


Olympic Games

by BrightYellowBumblebee



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Olympics, F/F, Non-Linear Narrative, Social Media
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrightYellowBumblebee/pseuds/BrightYellowBumblebee
Summary: Snapshots of Catradora et al. in the Summer Olympic gamesOlympics✓@olympicsOlympic village for the #2024BrightmoonOlympics is officially open![image]203kRetweets671kLikes
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 181





	Olympic Games

**Author's Note:**

> So, a few disclaimers first:  
> \- I’m British, not an athlete and don't have Twitter so, in short, I don't know what I'm doing  
> \- The general format is: twitter, past, twitter, present, twitter, past etc until we reach the actual games

**Olympics** **✓** @olympics

Olympic village for the #2024BrightmoonOlympics is officially open!

[image] 

**203k** Retweets **671k** Likes

**Not A Yoshi** @mushroom_man_erlandia

Bring on the games!

 **5** Retweets **11** Likes

**Mornin’, Glory** @staaaaaarla

Can’t wait! Come on #TeamRebellion, go for Gold!! 

**34** Retweets **260** Likes

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓** @bowtie

Last practice before we fly to #2024BrightmoonOlympics. Can’t wait to see #BFS again!

 **40k** Retweets **23k** Likes

**Sparkle Sparkle Bitches** **✓** @glim_glam

#BFS meet up is on! Just gotta pass the minimum height restrictions to fly!

 **104k** Retweets **67k** Likes

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓** @bowtie

_Replying to @glim_glam_

That’ll never happen! You’ll always be carded/heighted-ed? #BFS

 **75k** Retweets **132k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

_fReplying to @glim_glam_

You’re our small boll of rage and glitter and always will be #Sparkles #BFS

 **190k** Retweets **229k** Likes

**Sparkle Sparkle Bitches** **✓** @glim_glam

_Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy_

Bring it on! I’ll take your bendy ass any day #BFS 😊

 **244k** Retweets **290k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

_Replying to @glim_glam_

Can you even reach my ass? #Askinforafriend #BFS

 **260k** Retweets **288k** Likes

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓** @bowtie

_Replying to @glim_glam @cat_ASS_trophy_

I’m excited to see you both too (and @adorkable of course) #BFS

 **290k** Retweets **310k** Likes

**PepsiCola** @soda__pop

LOVIN’ the #BFS interaction today

 **1** Retweets **3** Likes

**Flowers for Dayzzz** @the_good_kale

_Replying to @soda__pop_

Agreed! The gang’s gonna be back together #BFS #BowForPresident #RaRa

 **3** Retweets **7** Likes

**Bakers Dozen** @tiiiiiiiinycakes

_Replying to @soda__pop @the_good_kale_

Will we get a full #BFS reunion though? @adorkable has been quiet

 **12** Retweets **22** Likes

**Flowers for Dayzzz** @the_good_kale

_Replying to @tiiiiiiiinycakes_

She’s been in Germany with @adam_ant. But, can’t wait for a full reunion; they’ve been spread across the country #BFS

 **19** Retweets 2 **7** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

_Replying to @tiiiiiiiinycakes_

And she can’t work Twitter (or anything for that matter!) #shemightbeaklutzydumbblonde #butshesmine

 **310k** Retweets **380k** Likes

**Bakers Dozen** @tiiiiiiiinycakes

Replying to @ _the_good_kale_

I, legit, can’t wait for #BFS and #RaRa to be together again. In #RaRa, we trust

 **56** Retweets **79** Likes

Retweeted by @adorkable

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy_

Can too!

 **390k** Retweets **420k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

_Replying to @adorkable_

Keep telling yourself that, adorababe

 **400k** Retweets **440k** Likes

\--

According to Angella and Lance, Glimmer De Luna and Bow Migwi were born conjoined at the hip but this wasn’t quite true. They were delivered in rooms next to one another in the same hospital, Glimmer emerging as a small red-faced screaming demon and Bow coming out so quiet his midwife did the checks twice. 

(Not much changed. Glimmer spent most of her formative years screaming about something and Bow would often get lost under the bookcase of his parents’ library because he was so quiet.) 

Although their first meeting would be years later, their parents like to think they were destined from this moment. 

On the first day of Kindergarten, Bow stood silently in a corner, his dark frames not hiding the fear in his eyes and his red bowtie standing crooked from a vigorous morning of colouring. He eyed the building blocks with longing, he really wanted to play with them, stack them and make something but the other children were there. 

‘It’ll be ok,’ he thought, ‘Papa said I should try and make friends.’

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself out of his corner and approached the brick builders. 

“Hey, can I play?” he asked, his voice wavering a little at the end. The other children looked up and then glanced nervously at a larger boy on the mat. He began to stand and he positively towered over Bow, leaning into his space as he began to push Bow in the chest.

“No! No losers allowed!” he said, each word punctuated by a sharp finger to Bow’s shirt and his tie became even messier.

Bow could feel his eyes beginning to well with tears as he looked down to the floor. He was about to turn and back away when he heard a yell from across the room.

Glancing up, he saw a purple cannonball rocketing towards them. Instinctively, he covered his head with his hands and crouched down, only for the cannonball to stop right in front of him.

“Hey! Don’t be a meanie!” the girl yelled, looking upwards at the larger boy and Bow peeked out from behind his arm shield. His saviour was tiny! She had brown hair and warm dark eyes and was dressed in a giant purple sweatshirt.

She was so cute!

She was currently glaring with a large pout at the other boy and Bow was in awe, staring at her with sparkles in his eyes. 

She was amazing.

“He can’t play with us, we don’t want him here,” the larger boy huffed, the wind taken out of his sails momentarily at the small ball of righteous anger.

“Well, he doesn’t want to play with you anyway,” she stuck her tongue out, “he’s coming to play with me.” And with that, she grabbed his hand and pulled him across the play area to where she was playing to begin with. Bow trailed behind her, allowing her grip on his hand to continue as he followed this small force of nature.

They ended up in a corner, filled with sporting toys and she turned to him.

“I’m Glimmer,” she said, authoritatively. “I’m playing on the space hopper but you can play with me.”

There was no other answer; she had chosen to play with him and he wouldn’t leave her now. He’d done it, he’d made his first friend and Bow knew they would be friends forever from this point onwards. He merrily picked up a soft ended dart to throw at the board in the corner. 

That, as their parents would say, was history.

\--

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓**

@bowtie

Kenyan by day, American by night, Sunshine allllll the time. Likes pointy things, shooting things and every-things 😊 😊 😊

 **7000** Following **3.1M** Followers

**Sparkle Sparkle Bitches** **✓**

@glim_glam

Filipina bitches!!! No, my sport does NOT compensate for anything! Megadeth and sprinkles 4 life

 **9029** Following **3.8M** Followers

**Meowmix** **✓**

@cat_ASS_trophy

Why yes, I AM more flexible than your white ass! Cuba por la victoria! So far out the closet, I’m naked. Permanecer. Stanning @adorkable, as per marital law forever!

 **6039** Following **4.4M** Followers

**Blondies &Brownies ** **✓**

@adorkable

German. Basic horse girl. The clever twin (suck it @adam_ant). Legally allowed to follow @cat_ASS_trophy everywhere! Ich verspreche es

 **16** Following **4.5M** Followers

\--

The sun rose high over the Olympic Village and that, coupled with the already imposing humidity, made for an uncomfortably oppressive day. 

Olympic Village was situated in a remote corner of the eastern part of Brightmoon, Australia. Its dusty roads were hazy in the morning light, as though lit by a lunar celestial body, opposed to a solar one. The sandstone buildings were interspersed with beautiful green spaces: a park here, sculpted gardens there and, along the main road were blossom trees shedding their pink and white petals. The suburbs of the city were wide and sprawling, low laying buildings and residential areas.

Further along the main road, closer to the city centre, the buildings became denser, taller and more imposing; steel monoliths rising from the horizon. Nestled within the city’s heart, next to the Government Building was a brand-new stadium; stretching higher than most surrounding buildings and, it was so new, it practically had a price tag.

Chrome panels, concrete walls and strategically careless shrubs surrounded the Olympic stadium, with pools and other arenas nearby. Inside the stadium, the concrete paving gave way to red clay, marking the track-and-field area, and the freshly mown grass of the pitch. Swept into the wings were recessed sections for the cameras before the boards and railings, separating Olympiad from norm.

Stretching outwards from the centre, rows upon rows of spectator seats yawned into the sky, mounted screens and shading with a top-of-the-line speaker system. At one end of the stadium lay the announcer box, currently empty but waiting to be filled with announcers, a myriad of cables and wires dominating the space.

To say that its construction had been a point of contention for the people of Brightmoon would be an understatement. The stadium and surrounding buildings had been the result of months of road disruptions, construction delays and angry emails back and forth between government officials.

Whereas, the Olympic Village hadn’t gained nearly as much negative press as the stadium, possibly because it had cost significantly less the build, possibly because it hadn’t interrupted the daily commute of Brightmoon’s populous, possibly because its post-games purpose could be easily seen.

A sprawling collection of sandstone buildings could be found behind a secured entrance and high wall. There were main buildings hosting a variety of practice spaces and equipment and, clustered around these were squat apartment buildings, designed to host twelve beds with communal bathing and cooking areas.

Following concerns over the athletes’ safety, security was beefed up and there was a single entrance into the village, manned with a barrier and guard. The rest of the village was surrounded by walls and greenery.

All it needed now was Olympiads.

Currently, Catra DeLeon of Team USA, had just disembarked, her flight having landed. She had been flown in from the US, landing in Brightmoon International Airport, with strict instructions that none of the general public knew when or where her flight was.

Which meant that she was met with a hoard of raucous fans at six in the morning, severely decaffeinated and jetlagged. 

Awesome.

For Catra, it meant that she was grumpy, stiff and now on week six of not waking up next to her wife. Her mood could be summed up as, in a word, vile, and this was before the looming headache of customs, security and duty free because she was going to get her tax free Toblerone, so help her!

She ran her black painted fingers through her brown short-cropped hair, trying to make herself look more presentable. If fans were here, it meant cameras were here and she would NOT look anything less than the queen she was. Although she had been awake now for thirty hours, her eyeliner wings were still fierce, framing her blue and hazel heterochromic eyes and her Team USA jacket was unzipped, leaving her “Feelin’ the Purrrride” shirt on display.

Dancing through security, raising an eyebrow at the excited grin the officer gave her and leaving the customs balderdash to her coach and coach-ettes to deal with, she peeled away from the rest of the USA Gymnastics Team and beelined for her chocolate. 

Finishing the rest of the journey out of airport arrivals, carry on in one hand and snacking on her chocolate like a piece of jerky, she strolled into the arrivals lounge.

To be met with half of her personal idiot squad.

A tall African man was stood with a sign above his head, his dark curly hair closely cropped at the sides and warm dark eyes twinkling. He was holding a truly hideous leopard print sign in his hands, held aloft by his (frankly alarming) well-defined arms. He had a Team USA jacket, wrapped around his waist, tied by its red, white and blue arms. His shirt, already breeching the borders of shirt vs crop, was riding up even further and put his abs on display. 

If Catra weren’t so gay, she’d be washing her clothes on those abs.

Next to him stood a small woman, with her head only coming up to the man’s shoulder. Her hair was dyed a shade of purple-pink that would have looked ridiculous on anyone else but seemed to bring out the warm caramel of her skin. She had her face set into an intimidating frown but her lavender eyes were sparkling. Her Team USA jacket made Catra snort aloud; it looked like it had originally been Bow’s but had been re-appropriated as it seemed three sizes too big.

As she approached these two, she felt a wave of relief. She’d missed these idiots and talking over videos and the phone just wasn’t the same.

Any benevolent thoughts were immediately shattered when she saw the ridiculous sign that Bow was holding.

“Catra: Queen of Sheba!”

She sighed and clutched her forehead; she was not caffeinated enough to deal with this right now. Biting furiously into her remaining chocolate, she wondered if she could sneak past the Disaster Duo but this was quickly squashed when she heard them over the crowd.

“She’s here!” Bow exclaimed, shaking Glimmer’s shoulder violently. Glimmer looked upwards to where he was pointing and her frown briefly melted into a smile, before returning to a pout.

“She’s gonna ignore us,” she said to Bow, her voice perfectly pitched across the airport din so that Catra could hear her. Bow seemed to take this as a challenge and began to bounce upon the balls of his feet in excitement. His arms, still holding that blasted sign, swayed back and forth in his excitement.

“Hey! Hey, Catra! Catra!”

His increasingly loud voice penetrated the arrivals lounge and he was starting to attract stares from others. Those stares then came with nudges and whispers as they were slowly being recognised. Glimmer, on the other hand, crossed her arms and her face became so unbearably smug that Catra wished she could punch it off.

She had to nip this in the bud.

Approaching the others on silent feet, she got to about six feet away and pre-emptively dropped her bag. As soon as Bow saw that she was in hugging distance, he went for the kill. Abandoning his sign entirely, he swept her up in a bear hug, wrapping his (alarmingly) strong arms around her and somehow managing to gather Glimmer up in his friendship-good-time.

“Catra! It’s so good to see you!” he exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement any longer and spinning the group around. Catra glanced over at Glimmer, whose expression said ‘just go with it’ so she let herself go limp and let Bow spin her like a medieval princess

“Good to see you too Bow,” she said, when she’d regain equilibrium, “you too, Sparkles.”

Glimmer just smiled and held out a fist for her to bump.

Scooping up his lost sign, his and Glimmer’s hand luggage (and he would have had Catra’s if not for the scathing glare she sent him), he draped his arms over their shoulders as he marched towards the waiting coach.

“BFS almost fully reunited! Olympics here we come!”

\--

**Grizzlor** @grumpycarebear

Just seen the cutest airport meetup and I think it was #BFS

 **34** Retweets **50** Likes

\--

Catra had been doing gymnastics practically all her life. Sure, there was a time before she had motor control and basic balance but she couldn’t remember that so it didn’t count? The point was, for Catra, gymnastics was like breathing.

She couldn’t live without it.

Back in Cuba, her balance beam was the tree branches and her high bars had been the railings outside her house. She practiced on her own schedule, learning moves from the athletes on the TV and improving by herself. Her successes where hers as where her defeats. Every fall was met with a kiss on her head from her Mami and more motivation to do better. She didn’t have a coach, or a gym but she developed her skills and, as she grew, so did her gymnastics. 

When they moved to the US, they didn’t have money to spend on gymnastic programmes or equipment and her school didn’t offer anything like it so she practiced where she always did: outside.

But then her neighbourhood had been _revitalised_ and all the loose railings replaced with iron and wire ones. The branches had been pruned. Her sandpit had been paved over. She had been sixteen at the time, fresh out of school with a sick Mami at home, no savings and a job at local convenience store: ready to commit homicide or suicide, depending on the joys of retail that day. She couldn’t afford gym membership or tutoring or equipment so her legitimate gymnastics stayed a pipedream.

Until she met Sparkles.

She’d been practicing her flips in her lunchbreak, turning herself over and over in the alley behind the convenience store, nestling her body between the dumpsters and filth when she heard the sound of clapping.

She dropped herself to her feet and spied a small form at the end of the alley, all glitter and rage in a pint-sized package, clapping sardonically. Unable to help herself, she dropped into a theatrical bow, snarling on rising.

“Take a picture Sparkles, it’ll last longer.”

The newcomer snorted ungracefully but said nothing. She approached Catra and, it was then that she noticed how finely made her clothes were compared to the polyester nightmare she was wearing for work. She suddenly remembered that she hadn’t brushed her unruly hair today and it probably resembled a lion’s mane.

She reached into her hoodie and pulled out an embossed business card, and held it out for Catra to take. With an arched eyebrow, she snatched the card, glancing over it “Mystacor Gyms”.

“Your foundations are solid but your footwork is sloppy and your transitions are lazy,” Sparkles said, managing to look excited whilst basically criticising Catra’s life. 

“So what?” she growled back, hackles rising.

Sparkles sniggered and started to walk away. “Check out the gym, it’s great for gymnastics.”

“Wha-,” Catra started, looking at what she wanted more than anything in the world but knowing she couldn’t have it, “I can’t afford a gym! Why do you think I’m doing flips in an alley?”

Sparkles looked over her shoulder, confidence radiating from her caramel skin and her eyes practically glittering. 

“It’s fine, tell them you’re with Glimmer. They’ll let you in no problem.”

\--

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓** @bowtie

#TeamUSA members of #BFS reunited at last! Waiting for you @adorkable

[image]

 **40k** Retweets **45k** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @bowtie_

Setting off tomorrow. Swifty’s already there. Give him an apple for me 😊

 **38k** Retweets **41k** Likes

\--

The first Team USA bus was packed with competitors across the field, both sexes and generally, a lot of testosterone. It was hot, humid and the single working fan had been commandeered by Entrapta as soon as they boarded.

The Best Friend Squad were up to their usual antics: Catra had her headphones on and was texting in a desperate attempt to block out the world, Glimmer and Bow were playing a clapping game that was stomping on her last nerve that hadn’t been abandoned somewhere over the Pacific. 

Actually, Catra’s last nerve was currently somewhere in Dortmund with a buff male version of herself.

She’d been telling Adora to get American citizenship for _years._

In an attempt not to murder her friends or harm Team USA’s chances (mostly the latter), she glanced around the bus to see if there was something that could distract her from oncoming homicide.

At the front of the bus sat the group of coaches, most she didn’t know but she recognised the Gymnastics trio of Angella, Micah and Castaspella. Castaspella and Micah were siblings and Angella and Micah were married. Glimmer had the unfortunate pleasure of being related to all three coaches, for which she had spent her whole career so far denying claims of nepotism and working twice as hard as everyone else to prove it. Angella headlined the rhythmic gymnastics and trampolining, whereas Castaspella and Micah mainly managed the artistic gymnastics. 

Castaspella was in the middle of leaning over and whispering something in Micah’s ear, probably something filthy judging by the large slashing smile on her dark lips and Micah’s beetroot red ears. He looked close to bursting with laughter, his dark eyes shining much like Glimmer’s and his white flecked beard shaking with his lips.

Angella, on the other hand, looked like the epitome of calm. Her auburn hair neatly folded into a bun at the nape of her long neck, her blue eyes calm and serene. She was reading a paperback book, appearing as though she hadn’t a care in the world but Catra knew she was minutely aware of everything surrounding her. Her right hand was folded within Micah’s left, a casual display of love and affection that Catra hadn’t seen between two adults before she’d met them. 

Behind them were Scorpia and Perfuma, cuddling up to one another and in their own little world. That had been one of the most unanticipated romances Catra had ever seen. Scorpia had been her friend since she started working in the convenience store and they were rostered to work together. It’d been a long, late shift, no customers and Catra was manning the till. She’d accidentally knocked the PA system with her elbow and a loud pop song started playing.

She’d jumped out of her skin, shocked at the sudden sound and there was a minor crash at the back of the store. When she reached the back aisle, she was greeted with Scorpia’s large frame and broad shoulders, dancing back and forth with her mop and singing along to the beat. Behind her strong shoulders and shock of white hair (with its bitching undercut that Catra wasn’t at all jealous of) lay a sensual voice.

After that night, Scorpia would have Catra and her mother over for dinner often and they would try return the favour when they could. Scorpia became her closest friend and she gave the best hugs. Following her invite, she started bringing Scorpia to Mystacor Gyms as she was lamenting her lack of a good workout and spotted her as she benched a weight that had all the staff gawking with awe. 

Everyone was mildly intimidated by the strong woman and wouldn’t approach her, despite the fact that Scorpia was the kindest woman to walk the earth. Perfuma was the first person besides Catra to talk to Scorpia, walking to her when her own practice had finished with a bottle of water and a kind ear. Her blonde hair was pulled back under a brimmed cap and her warm dark eyes were welcoming. She seemed to be flushing when she approached Scorpia even then, her tanned skin and smattering of freckles darkening with heat.

From then on, Perfuma would keep Scorpia company whilst Catra was finishing her routines and they would talk over vegan smoothies and protein shakes, their eyes glowing at one another. Scorpia’s talents were noticed by the weightlifting coach who agreed to take her on the team and she qualified to come to the Olympics. 

Perfuma had qualified as well, being a world class golfer and, according to Scorpia, she looked so cute in her golf cleats. Currently, they were wrapped up in each other, watching a video on one of their phones, heads together and seemingly one person.

Across the aisle was Frosta, playing on her handheld with the noise turned all the way up because, of course. Frosta was younger than everyone else there, a Korean American, competing in Taekwondo and she had been taking lessons since childhood and was a master of her craft. She had grown up isolated from her peers and didn’t have many friends, so when she first came to Mystacor Gyms, she was standoffish and cold. 

Catra longed for this life as a child, yearned for it but, looking at Frosta she couldn’t imagine the pressure of trying to be an Olympiad at her age and was glad she had the chance to approach this with an older head. The Frosta swearing at her handheld, headband knocked askew was a million miles from the ice princess that walked into their gym. 

Glimmer quickly took her under her wing, showing her the ropes in the gym and took her out on friendship dates. As a result, Catra could see Frosta’s metaphorical defrosting through her eyes, their Siberian blue becoming warmer and her smile shining through, lighting her dark bluish black hair and face.

Behind Frosta sat Entrapta, merrily pulling her prize apart. She’d commandeered the only working fan on boarding and was now dismantling it, cackling every so often and speaking into a voice recorder by her head. Her metres and metres of lilac hair (Schwarzkopf, mauve kiss, thanks for asking Catra!) was held in two bunches, framing her garnet eyes. Catra had wondered if she was albino under all that hair dye but had never asked.

Entrapta was one of the most entertaining people Catra had ever met. She first met her in the car park for the gym, her head under a car hood and mad cackling coming from the bonnet. As it turns out, she had previously cannibalised her car for parts to repair “Emily”, something that Catra doesn’t understand to this day, and it had subsequently died outside the gym. 

Scorpia had seen her through the window of the gym during one of her smoothie dates with Perfuma and baited her in with a promise of a tiny cupcake. As soon as she stepped inside, faced with all the people in the lobby looking at her, she had averted her eyes quickly and started to fiddle with her long, long hair.

“Hi, I’m Entrapta,” she said, sounding excited and scripted at the same time, “I like tiny food and sodas. I need to fix Emily.”

Glances were exchanged around the gathered crowd and puzzled eyebrows raised. Emily? It was then that attention drew to the rifle gun that was tucked into the back of Entrapta’s overalls. Beautiful, matte finishing along the barrel with a dark wood handle and handsomely cared for, Emily was a stunning gun.

It was at this time that Micah joined them in the foyer and, with a little sweet talking, managed to get Entrapta in front of the archery targets. Three rounds later, he was buttering Entrapta up to come back, promising tiny food and fizzy drinks and tinkering. 

The reception desk computer has never been the same since. 

Her attention was drawn to the back of the bus where two of the aquatics team were sitting. In the window seat, Mermista was sat, staring out the window and seeming uninterested in the entire world around her except for her right hand that was being loosely held by Sea Hawk (real name pending, Catra still didn’t know it) who was slowly stroking his thumb over her knuckles. 

Catra’s first meeting with the aquatic couple was memorable, to say the least. She’d been walking through the changing rooms to the gymnastics side of Mystacor when, suddenly, a very naked man ran into her. 

Her fantasies didn’t usually involve this part but the very wet woman who followed, indigo green hair tightly braided and wearing a bathing suit that offset her North Indian skin and physique beautifully could be something that would feature in future. 

The women, who simultaneously looked irate and bored at once, grabbed the man by his ear, pulling his head back and revealing his handlebar moustache and brown eyes and began to yell at him.

“Sea Hawk, I will actually kill you for this,” she hissed directly into his ear and the man, Sea Hawk, simultaneously flushed and blanched. 

“Ah, my darling Mermista,” he began to sweet talk, squirming slightly as well but he never got to finish his sentence as Mermista began to walk away, towing him behind by his ear and muttering in Hindi. 

After meeting them, Catra would have never believed that Sea Hawk was an Olympic class sailor, looking at him. Even looking at him now, with his red neckerchief and polished shoes, he looked more like an attempt at a swashbuckler than a sailor. He had improved greatly at Mystacor but Mermista must have known what he was from the beginning, seen the potential and stuck with him, despite her complaints. 

She had cajoled and pushed him to greater heights and he was an Olympiad as a result. Sea Hawk knew this, as his almost reverent hold on Mermista’s hand suggested. Mermista knew this, by her smirk.

But then, she did smirk a lot, when she wasn’t practicing her resting bitch face. Mermista was part of the swimming team and, having seen her in the water, Catra was convinced she was part mermaid. She had earned her spot on the team, as had everyone else.

Feeling slightly less murderous, she glanced back to her own Best Friend Squad. Their clapping game had finished and they were dozing against each other, Glimmer curled up with her head resting on Bow’s collarbone and Bow’s head stretched all the way back, snoring to the heavens. 

Her second meeting with Glimmer had been slightly less explosive than the first; she was on the floor, running through fronthand-round off-backhands and she saw a spot of purple in her periphery, bouncing up and down. Looking across (and risking Castaspella’s wrath) she saw Glimmer on the trampoline, rising higher and faster until it looked like she was teleporting into mid-air, flipping to and fro. She’d never seen anyone do anything like that before and it looked like pure magic. She’d never considered trampolining a sport before, certainly not an Olympic one, but seeing it here, in front of her, she understood.

Her second meeting with Glimmer yielded her first meeting with Bow, who was a puppy in human form. He was down by the archery range, pulling bullseyes consistently and seemingly the personification of sunshine whilst he did so. After practice had finished, she was met by Glimmer and Bow in the atrium and she learned that they were a packaged pair.

Despite her filibustering, she appreciated them and what they did for her more than they could ever know. 

They gave her gymnastics. 

They gave her friends

They gave her Adora.

\--

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

Landed in Brightmoon. Still no wifey ☹ @adorkable. This is grounds for divorce

 **160k** Retweets **200k** Likes 

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy_

Es tut mir Leid. I’ll be there as soon as I can. @adam_ant has lost his passport

 **180k** Retweets **200k** Likes

**Blond Butt Lift** **✓** @adam_ant

_Replying to @adorkable_

Erm, sorry. I thought it was in my gym bag

 **180k** Retweets **200k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

_Replying to @adam_ant_

You’ve learned nothing, young padawan. It’s NEVER in your gym bag

 **160k** Retweets **190k** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @adam_ant_

Du lässt meine Frau mich vermissen. Entschuldigen!

 **200k** Retweets **210k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

_Replying to @adorkable @adam_ant_

I still hate you Adam but you got Adora to do the German thing. Danke, Bruder

 **190k** Retweets **210k** Likes

**Trident of Power** **✓** @Sea_Ra

_Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy_

At least it’s not just me. 

**210k** Retweets **230k** Likes

**Self-raising Flour Power** **✓** @HeartBlossom

_Replying to @Sea_Ra_

#Preachingtothechoir

 **210k** Retweets **230k** Likes

**Blond Butt Lift** **✓** @adam_ant

_Replying to @adorkable_

Es tut mir Leid. Ich werde den Skorpion herausbringen @caringclaws

 **200k** Retweets **260k** Likes

**Scorpions are BUILT (for hugs)** **✓** @caringclaws

_Replying to @adam_ant_

Message received, weight buddy. Hug launching in 3, 2, 1

 **200k** Retweets **260k** Likes

\--

Mystacor Gyms was everything Catra had ever wanted and everything she hated. When she first passed through the automatic glass doors into the airconditioned lobby, she could tell that this wasn’t an ordinary weights and cardio gym. 

Sure, there was a decent collection of weights and cardio machines, but alongside this there was a swimming pool and an area dedicated to gymnastics and other sports. The high ceilings showed a clear area for jumps and lifts, with trampolines on one side and archery targets along the other. In the centre of the room was everything Catra had dreamed of: balance beams, asymmetrical bars, high bars, rings and a whole manner of things she’d never seen.

Her heterochromic eyes widened even further at the large bowls of chalk and neatly lined rows of rhythmic gymnastic equipment. There was a large padded area for floor work and everything was shiny and clean and Catra was sure she didn’t belong here. 

A thought that the receptionist seemed to agree with.

“May I help you?” she said, in a tone just left of a sneer. Catra’s eyes narrowed slightly and a confident smirk came to her lips. She dropped her gym bag down beside her as she sprawled confidently on the counter.

“Yeah, Sparkles sent me.” The receptionist’s eyebrows drew over her eyes as she pursed her poorly lined lips.

“Sparkles?”

“Yeah, Sparkles. Or Glimmer, whatever her name is.” The disbelief in the receptionist’s gaze was palpable.

“Glimmer? Gimmer De Lune sent you?” disdain dripping from her voice, if she had a pair of glasses on, Catra was sure she’d be glaring at her over them. She seemed to be gearing up for a verbal takedown when the door behind her opened and a tall Southeast Asian woman stepped out, dressed in an indigo tracksuit with her long dark hair pinned back.

“Ah Glimmer, so good to-“ she cut herself off, upon seeing that there wasn’t a purple haired Filipina girl in front of her receptionist but a skinny Latina. 

“Oh, sorry, I thought Glimmer was here. Cexyll, is everything ok?” she asked the red-haired receptionist. Before the receptionist could say anything, Catra piped up.

“Glimmer sent me here, said I could get in by saying I was with her,” she said matter-of-factly and held out the business card that Sparkles had given her. The dark-haired woman took the card with a raised eyebrow, glancing at the embossed writing briefly and turned to the computer.

“Well,” she said, a smile creeping on her darkly stained lips and Catra opened her mouth to fight her case, “we’ll have to get you set up then, won’t we?”

Catra was absolutely gobsmacked. What just happened? Where was the argument? Did she just get something that she wanted? No, the world didn’t work like this. It just didn’t. 

But maybe, it could. 

As the woman was putting her details in the computer, she glanced over and Catra could have sworn she’d seen that glittering eye expression before.

“So, Catra,” she said, “what made you stand out to my niece?” So that must be where she recognised it from: Tall-Dark-and-Sultry must be Sparkles’ aunt.

“I was doing some flips at work and she said my footwork was sloppy,” Catra drawled and a slow, satisfied grin appeared on the woman’s face.

“Well, you’re in luck Catra. My name is Castaspella and I’m a gymnastics coach.” She stood up from behind the counter and held open the door to the changing room. It was like the door to Catra’s dream and she just held it right on open for her.

“Show me what you can do.”

And from then on, every good thing in Catra’s life, blossomed from that gym.

**\--**

**Blond Butt Lift** **✓**

@adam_ant

German. POOOWER! The REAL clever twin (get it @adorokable). Lift is life. Weightlifts that is.

 **1600** Following **3.8M** Followers

**Trident of Power** **✓**

@Sea_Ra

Swimmer. My Trident is bigger than yours. Stop burning my stuff @ShantySeaShanty

 **340** Following **2.8M** Followers

**Self-raising Flour Power** **✓**

@HeartBlossom

Vegan. Golfer. You can do anything you set your mind to. Getting the best hugs from @caringclaws

 **350** Following **2.7M** Followers

**Scorpions are BUILT (for hugs)** **✓**

@caringclaws

Hi everyone! I like hugs and lifting weights and my amazing girlfriend @HeartBlossom

 **954** Following **3.0M** Followers

\--

“I call this bed!”

“Well, I call this one!”

“Darling Mermista, could we perhaps-“

“Eugh, fine. But don’t make a big thing of it.”

“Scorpia, would you like to join me?”

“Oh, wow, Perfuma. That’d be great.”

As soon as they reached the Olympic Village, Team USA scattered and claimed their own apartments and rooms. It was an unwritten rule that the Olympiads from Mystacor Gyms would be rooming together in one apartment and, given the bedrooms were all twins, a partnering system was started. 

After all their luggage was piled into the lounge, they began to unpack. A truly alarming amount of protein powder was unloaded into the kitchen, which was (thankfully) stocked with four blenders and Entrapta opened one of her suitcases outright on one of the couches to reveal a mass of wires, cables and electronics. Her other suitcase contained Emily. 

She had no other suitcase which meant all her personal effects were in her hand luggage. Or back in America. Knowing Entrapta, it was even odds.

Frosta and Entrapta took one look at each other and burst into one of the rooms, quickly closing the door and, scarily, mechanical noises and maniacal laughter soon followed. Sea Hawk and Mermista claimed the next room and, even scarier, no sound followed the closure of their door.

Perfuma and Scorpia took glances at one another and blushed. Then another glance, and some more blushing until, surprisingly, Perfuma asked if they wanted to share a room. As their door closed, Bow held a banknote out to Glimmer, who grabbed it with her sticky fingers, smirking widely. They had all learned the hard way not to bet against Glimmer but, somehow, this was a lesson that Bow kept forgetting.

That left three rooms and six beds. In the time it took Bow and Glimmer to shyly exchange secretive looks and hem to the other in embarrassment, Catra had claimed the last two rooms. One for her and Adora, because “my wife might be dumb enough to be playing for another country but she’s not going to spend another night away from me. Dammit, I have marital rights!” and the other for Adam.

(“I swear they shared one womb and it means co-dependency for life! Honestly, that dumb blonde can’t survive without the other in eyeshot!”

“Which one?”

“Both of the blonde idiots!”)

The remaining half of the Best Friend Squad were the last people standing in the hall, both knowing there was only one room remaining but not wanting to point it out. 

“I guess I could bunk with Adam,” Bow said after a prolonged pause and Glimmer’s face dropped with an aghast look. She quickly schooled it back to her normal grump but not before Bow saw.

“Or I could bunk in your room? With you?” he said with a secretive small smile.

She smiled back.

\--

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy_

Adam finally found his passport. Cringer was sat on it

 **80k** Retweets **100k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

_Replying to @adorkable_

At last. Te extraño tanto

 **81k** Retweets **100k** Likes

**TheWintersBane** **✓** @ice_ice_baby

 _Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy_ _@adorkable_

Gross. Get a room

 **75k** Retweets **95k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

_Replying to @ice_ice_baby_

We have one. It’s right next to yours 😉

 **99k** Retweets **103k** Likes

**ADVENTURE! ONWARDS** **✓** @ShantySeaShanty

_Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy_

But @Sea_Ra and me are next to @ice_ice_baby?

 **76** Retweets **120** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy @ice_ice_baby_

Sorry Frosta. Be nice, Catra. Ich liebe dich

 **100k** Retweets **104k** Likes

\--

It was the end of a long and gruelling practice; Castaspella had her on the beam today, trying to execute consecutive back handsprings into a somersault to the floor but she kept flubbing the landing. On the fourth time she hit the hideous blue mat, she gave a weak punch in retaliation for the bruises she had.

“I’m never going to get this,” she snarled, frustrated tears leaping to her eyes. Castaspella approached her and sat on the mat next to her, a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You will, it takes time and practice, both of which you’re giving now,” she said, her hand patting her shoulder gently. Catra’s hands were buried in her hair, ready to pull the locks from her head in impotent anger.

“Come on, time for a break,” Castaspella ordered, projecting her voice to that both Bow and Glimmer could hear. Catra heard simultaneous whoops from the other end of the hall as they struggled to dismount their equipment in their eagerness. Catra glanced up through her lashes to see Castaspella smiling gently at her.

“You’ll get it after a break, Catra. I’m certain,” she said, fully confident in her words and her ward. Catra didn’t know how she could have that much confidence in her but she desperately wanted to live up to such an expectation.

She gathered her things together and made her way to the lobby with the others for a drink and a rest. 

Toying with the end of her straw, she sipped at her smoothie whilst Bow and Glimmer had a miniature sword fight with drink stirrers. It’d been a year since she’d first met Glimmer and walked into Mystacor Gym and Catra’s life was on a path she’d never imagined it to be: training to be a national athlete, getting paid to be a gymnast and finally being able to support her mother were dreams being realised for Catra.

And all that she gained, she wanted more.

She’d never considered love before, never allowing herself to think she could have something, someone like that for herself but, now she was achieving her dreams, something in her burned to find love.

As she was daydreaming into her kale-and-green-fruit smoothie, she could hear sounds coming from the rest of the gym. She tuned out the usual background noise that the Best Friend Squad made (their sword fight was becoming heated and vigorous) and the noise from the mounted TVs on the wall and, as she focussed further, she could hear something new.

German. There was someone speaking German in the gym. Her head perked up, long hair trailing behind her in its ponytail as she tried to find the source of this new sound. After turning her head a few times and looking like she was in the audience of a tennis match, she managed to pinpoint the voice to the weights room but she couldn’t see properly from where she was sitting. Damn.

Trying to act natural, she cast her gaze around to see if there was a new vantage point she could go to and watch the weight room but she wasn’t as surreptitious as she thought because when she focussed back on her tablemates, they were grinning at her like a pair of Cheshire cats. 

“Well, well, well. What’s caught your interest?” Glimmer purred mischievously and Bow mirrored her leer perfectly. Those two needed some time apart. Catra coloured and shrunk down into her jersey, hunching her shoulders up, but it couldn’t hide the fact that her ears had gone crimson.

“Erm, well,” she stammered, eyes darting back and forth between her two grinning compatriots. She couldn’t decide whose gaze was more intimidating: Glimmer’s knowing smirk and tongue wiggle or Bow’s optimistic sparkle with heart eyes. 

Bow. Bow was definitely worse; he was looking at her with _hope_. Ew.

She turned to Glimmer, prepared to unleash a torrent of sarcasm and vitriol, her favourite combination, when her mental thought process was interrupted once more by the arrival of the maybe Germans.

The first one into the lobby made a beeline to the fridge and got out two bottles of cold water, immediately drinking one of them. He was tall, easily over six feet and very muscular. His blond hair was matted and he looked like he’d just showered after finishing an intense workout. Blue eyes looked over to the doorway as a female voice called out.

“Adam, kann ich eine Flasche Wasser haben?” said the woman who was walking into the lobby, towelling her hair off as she walked. When the towel came to rest around her shoulders, Catra’s heart legitimately stopped.

She was gorgeous.

Tall and blonde, like her, presumably, brother but she carried it much better in Catra’s opinion. Her hair was blonder than the man’s, reaching her waist and she was in the process of scraping it back into a high ponytail. Her eyes were bluer and brighter and she had a well-defined musculature that made Catra want to beg the Goddess in front of her to crush her with her thighs.

No, her biceps.

In fact, both.

She was dressed in simple dark workout wear and walked up to her brother, grabbed one of the bottles of water and chided him gently in German. She then smiled at him, ruffled his hair (despite him being a few inches taller than her) and went to pay for the drinks. As she turned, Catra caught her eyes and the white smile widened. Catra smiled back and waved a little in response.

Here, several things happened at once. The woman’s eyes widened and she seemed to catch her breath on something, whilst still staring at Catra. She paused mid-step, seemingly trying to process something and her brother, who didn’t notice, went crashing into her back with alarming force.

The woman went hurtling to the ground, prat falling and banging her face on one of the empty tables scattered around and then, to add insult to injury, she was immediately stepped on by the large, sweaty foot of her brother.

There was a moan from the floor and a blonde head lifted itself. With a dazed look in her eyes, a spectacular bruise already forming on her forehead, the woman muttered: “was ist gerade passiert?”

Catra couldn’t help it.

She burst out laughing. 

She laughed so hard she ended up snorting her smoothie, which made her sneeze and laugh some more. Bow and Glimmer joined her, al three of them uproariously giggling like schoolchildren whilst the blonde siblings in front of them tried to get up. 

The man helped his sister up and gave her a quick pat down and once over. Once he’d seemingly made sure she wasn’t hurt, except her pride, he started laughing as well. It was a full-on belly laugh with shoulder shaking included. 

For her part, the woman appeared ok, seemed to be taking her ribbing good-naturedly and turned to hit her brother on the shoulder in apparent embarrassment. 

“Oh, mein Gott!” she said, exasperatedly to the ceiling, bringing her hand to her forehead, “Ich kann nicht glauben, dass ich das gerade getan habe!”

Her brother was still chuckling in the background. “Du bist dumm.” She whirled towards her brother, hitting him on the shoulder again and glaring up at him. The effect was somewhat marred by the rapidly reddening bruise on her forehead and crimson cheeks. 

It was then that the siblings seemed to remember the Catra and others sitting in the lobby and the woman’s face took on a whole new shade of maroon. As her eyes darted from face to face, her blush deepened further and further.

“This is so embarrassing,” she said, choosing to bury her face in her hands instead and her brother patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. He began to lead her to Catra’s table and when they were stood next to the trio, he pulled up another chair.

“Hallo, I’m Adam,” he said, a Germanic accent clinging to his words, “and this walking disaster is Adora, mein Schwester. Could you make sure she doesn’t hurt herself further while I pay for our drinks?” and he walked to the counter leaving his embarrassed but impossibly perfect sister sitting at the table, red faced.

“Hallo,” she eventually mustered with a small wave, still red in the face with hunched shoulders and a sheepish smile. What a klutz.

And Catra, who had never considered it, never had time for it and never experienced it, was sure she was in love.

**\--**

**Mornin’, Glory** @staaaaaarla

I STAN #RaRa so much. Look at their love, isn’t it wonderful?

 **30** Retweets **54** Likes

**Stretch Armstrong** @tallstar5x04

#RaRa is LOVE

 **44** Retweets **55** Likes

**Mornin’, Glory** @staaaaaarla

#RaRa is LIFE

 **50** Retweets **54** Likes

**Longsuffering** @starryjewels

_Replying to @staaaaaarla @tallstar5x04_

Woah there, Shrek wants his memes back. Let’s not forget #BowForPresident

 **83** Retweets **93** Likes

**Grox The Destroyer** @grundle_grox

Eugh, had enough now. They just want attention. Get off Twitter, bunch of lesbos

 **3** Retweets **43** Likes

**OctagonsArePolygons** @octaviaviavia

_Replying to @grundle_grox_

Stay in your lane bitch. They are queens and you will address them as such

 **101** Retweets **184** Likes

**I’m Your Huckleberry** **✓** @miragebitches

_Replying to @grundle_grox_

“Attention”? I draw your attention to this I wrote for HuffPost:

Adora and Catra, out and proud in a world of shame

By DT.

Well, it’s time. We finally get our out and proud athletes and my, my, my, the Lord delivered. The tale of country-crossed, sport-crossed, ethnicity-crossed, everything-crossed lovers, Catra DeLeon and Adora Kühn is one that has forged a new generation for LGBTQ advocacy. They have not hidden, they have not pretended, they have not … [read more]

 **140k** Retweets **193k** Likes

**Help I’m Entrapped Here** **✓** @0100101000101010

This thread is fascinating

 **89** Retweets **140** Likes

\--

The Opening Ceremony for the Olympics wasn’t for another week and Castaspella was limiting her daily practice to prevent over-exertion so the rest of her day was free. 

Castaspella was the aunt she had never had but somehow, always needed. She was supportive of Catra, in so much more than gymnastics; when her Mami had died, she’d taught Catra how to navigate the washing machine and the supermarket coupon system, whilst letting her vent her anger in practice. Catra had cried to her about her sexuality one memorable night after practice and they had both been wrapped up in jerseys, on the floor in tears. She remembered Castaspella hugging her, warm with a spicy fragrance and she felt safe. With tears in her eyes, Castaspella had opened up about her own sexuality and her struggles. 

It made her seem more human in Catra’s eyes; like most adults, she seemed to have her life on lockdown and so _sure_ of herself, Catra couldn’t imagine her struggling. With widened, teary eyes, Catra realised she was human, like her, and if she could manage to navigate this tangled mess of life, perhaps she could as well.

She’d never had the chance to share her sexuality with her Mami; it was never the right time and she’d gone to the grave with Catra never knowing if she would have accepted her. This had become a large cloud over her: she’d never know if her Mami would cuddle her like this, cry with her like this. She’d like to think she would, but who knows. 

Castaspella didn’t try to be her Mami; she would never fulfil that role but she supported Catra like a favoured aunt. For every time that Glimmer rolled her eyes at her aunt, Catra wanted to scream at her. Didn’t she realise what a good deal she had here? If Glimmer didn’t want her, Catra would gladly claim Castaspella as her own. She’d never spoken about her sexuality aloud before, to anyone and to have someone accept her so fully and unflinchingly, was like a door being opened for her.

Nope, Castaspella was hers now.

Sorry Sparkles.

After waking and getting in some early morning practice with Castaspella, Catra loped her way back to the apartment just as the morning sun was rising. There was some clinging mist on the ground but this was quickly dissipating into what promised to be a warm day. 

On a normal day, her non-gymnastic activities tended to revolve around Adora who, despite living in the US for more than five years now, still found much of daily living a novelty. She had a tendency to live frugally and without embellishment, always spending for others before herself. 

Naturally, this meant that Catra’s mission was to put Adora’s wants and needs first, something that even Adora didn’t do. In their first winter, she recalled taking Adora for her first Starbucks and the look of wonder on her face that followed. Catra would swear that Adora had stars in her eyes (and cream on her nose) when she took her first mouthful of the overly sugared monstrosity. 

Adam’s first Starbucks the following day was just as good, especially when she managed to get a picture of the twins sitting next to each other, wrapped up in sweaters Castaspella had knitted for them (red with green baubles for Adora, green with red baubles for Adam), grinning with cream on each of their noses. The fact that it had been wrapped in a frame and made into their Christmas present was the cherry on top.

The picture still sits in the middle of their mantle.

Without her wife though, taking pleasure in the simplicities and pointing out the fallacies of US living, her day seemed to drag. 

She made her way to the communal kitchen and met a bleary-eyed Bow on her way to the fridge. Bow didn’t yet seem fully awake and was staring at the kettle as though it held the answers of life, love and the universe.

“Morning Bow,” she said, pulling the fridge door and grabbing the orange juice. She got a noncommittal grunt in return and turned as she heard shuffling feet enter. Sea Hawk bustled in, eyes still closed with little barrettes in his moustache as he approached the island and collapsed on one of the stools with his back to the door. He held his head in his left hand and held his right out in supplication.

“Please, oh benevolent ones, please give me caffeine,” he moaned and Bow nodded, despite Sea Hawk not being able to see it. The kettle boiled and two mugs of coffee were poured, one to be sweetened beyond recognition by Bow, the other placed in front of Sea Hawk. Resting her hip against the counter, Catra settled back to watch the show as Sea Hawk’s hand reached out for the bowl of sugar but he neglected to raise his head to watch what he was doing and promptly mixed three spoons of salt in his coffee.

‘This is gonna be good,’ she thought and pulled out her phone to record the ensuing drama. Catra’s lips curled into a devious grin, waiting for the impending fallout. 

She didn’t have to wait long; for all Sea Hawk’s antics, he liked his coffee _hot_ and took his first large gulp of the morning straight after a jaw-breaking yawn. There was a minuscule pause, and Catra could almost see the nerve impulse going from Sea Hawk’s tongue to his brain, the nanosecond it took to process the flavour and the ensuing facial expression was gold.

It was almost as though someone had slapped him in the face with a wet, dead fish; his eyes grew wide and his lips pursed firmly. His cheeks began to bulge out as he stopped mid swallow and he opened his mouth, spitting out his coffee in front of him in a stream of liquid.

Unfortunately for Sea Hawk, it was at that moment a hooded eyed Mermista walked into the room, stretching one arm above her head, the other hand with black painted nails covering her mouth mid yawn. Her vest top and sleep shorts were a beautiful mint green and her hair messy from sleep. She had shuffled in almost silently but called out a greeting.

“Morning guys,” she yawned and everyone in the kitchen turned to her.

Including Sea Hawk.

Who was still spitting his coffee, hitting Mermista in the middle of her pyjama top mid-spray.

Although Catra’s video was still recording, she could have sworn that everything in the kitchen, including time, paused in that exact moment. The sounds of the village outside ceased, the ticking of the clock froze, the breaths of those gathered halted.

Sea Hawk’s blood froze solid. 

Mermista paused mid-step, her hands dropping to her sides as she eyes darkened at the same rate as her shirt. Her mouth clicked closed and her cheeks began to redden, an impressive feat for one as deadpan as Mermista.

She took a deep breath and took a small step forward. Sea Hawk flinched back with a whimper at the small movement and Catra would have been impressed with Mermista’s level of complete badassery if she weren’t a little terrified herself. She grabbed the top of Sea Hawk’s ear and lifted him from his bar stool.

“Bow, Catra, Adora via Catra’s phone,” she addressed each of them in turn, deadpan with a fiery gaze in her eyes, “please excuse us. Sea Hawk and I have something to discuss.”

She calmly pulled the taller man behind her, the whites of his pleading eyes being the last thing they saw as they left the kitchen. 

Bow and Catra stared at the empty doorway in silence for a moment before turning to one another and bursting out into a fit of giggles. 

When Glimmer entered the kitchen five minutes later, Bow was collapsed over the island with Catra leaning on the back of a stool, both breathless with laughter and red in the face.

“Erm, what did I miss?”

\--

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

@adorkable Travel safe. Here’s a little something to cheer you up

[video]

 **190k** Retweets **210k** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy_

That’s so funny!!!! @Sea_Ra, are you ok?

 **120k** Retweets **130k** Likes

**Trident of Power** **✓** @Sea_Ra

_Replying to @adorkable_

I am. @ShantySeaShanty isn’t. I apologise #TeamRebellion, you’re missing a sailor

 **100k** Retweets **110k** Likes

**ADVENTURE! ONWARDS** **✓** @ShantySeaShanty

_Replying to @adorkable_

Mistakes were made on this day

 **90k** Retweets **120k** Likes

\--

Adora, Catra learned, was an impossible paradox of contradictions. She looked like a Goddess but had the stupidest laugh she’d ever heard, a breathy chuckle that gave way into little snorting inhales. She could be the most graceful person she’d ever seen (including when she looked in a mirror) but Catra had seen her trip over thin air and fall down a flight of stairs. She was so mindful of everyone’s needs, making sure their friends and Adam had eaten, slept and even reminding them of important occasions but she’d neglect herself.

She’d even forgotten her own birthday once. Remembered Adam’s, forgotten hers. Catra.exe had to reboot for that one because it was the same date, dammit Adora!

Ever since their first meeting, the German twins had been engulfed into the ragtag group of athletes that bloomed from Mystacor Gyms. The collection of young adults had expanded their clandestine meetings within the lobby of the gym to meeting together outside. They’d regularly meet up at for drinks and friendship dates but the gymnastics squad, which had enveloped the twins and was now named Best Friend Squad (patent pending but trademarked by Bow. Actually trademarked, he’d filed the paperwork) practically lived at each other’s houses. 

Glimmer’s house was expansive, with wide airy windows and a large flat grassy area behind it. The house was extensive and open plan, with modern decorating and the garden was huge. With both her parents being gymnastics instructors, they had focussed on the garden when they bought the house, which was frequently put to use by the Best Friend Squad. 

Both Glimmer’s parents were away today but they were spread over the back garden, enjoying the afternoon sun. Swiftwind had come over as well, the ok being given by Micah and not overruled by Angella immediately, which was complete permission according to Glimmer. His trailer was out the front by Adora’s crappy car and he’d been led to the back where he was frolicking with the butterflies that were gathered around Angella’s peonies. 

Today, Adam and Bow were having a push up contest, Adam completing two push ups for every one that Bow achieved but both were laughing gayly. Their loud chuckles drifted over to the girls, who were sitting at the garden table, fresh lemonade in front of them. Glimmer was tapping away on her phone, undoubtedly on social media and covertly filming Adam and Bow’s contest, undoubtedly for her social media. Both the males of the Best Friend Squad were incredibly popular on line and would be sure to get her some traffic. 

Adora and Catra were in the middle of a card game, trying hard to beat each other at snapping the pairs. They were giggling and slapping at one another’s hands, Adora barely grasping the basics of the game and Catra laughing too much to take it seriously. She’d explained the rules to Adora three times but something was being lost in translation when she, once again, slammed her hand down on an unmatching pair. Her blue eyes were sparkling and her cheeks flushed and she let out a “Ha!” of achievement. Catra couldn’t bear to tell her that it wasn’t right so Adora picked up the stack of cards. 

Over the last few months, Adora had become the closest person to Catra; they texted almost constantly and talked daily. They’d bonded over drinks that first day, Adora’s purpling forehead marking the passage of time as they learned about each other. Adam had taken Bow and Glimmer to another table, challenging them to arm wrestling.

Bow lost horribly.

Glimmer won.

Catra discovered that Adora was a university student, studying Sports Medicine and rode professionally. Catra had never considered equestrianism as an actual sport, seeing as the horse did most of the work, but she could see how physically taxing it must have been through Adora’s physique. 

She’d ridden nationally in Germany but had moved to America to go to university here, as both her and Adam were accepted. Having made the move herself to America from somewhere else, Catra could empathise with Adora and they began to bemoan how hard that move was. Adora had regaled Catra with a tale about her trying to arrange stabling for her horse but being caught up on the accents.

“I know English,” she’d said, head in her hands as she stared at her drink. The sounds of Glimmer thrashing Adam in their strength contest drifted across the lobby and Catra glanced at her in sympathy. “But what you say is different from school. You talk in, what’s the word, metaphors and memes? The others in my lectures think I don’t know things; I see their eyes when we get paired up and they laugh at me. They call me stupid.”

She’d sighed heavily then, sharing with Catra that she often felt stupid, despite her high scores. “If anyone knew how clever I was in German, no one would ever say I was stupid.” 

“Well,” Catra had said, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. Adora raised her head and they held eye contact for a few moments, “they’ll just be jealous. When someone says you’re stupid or an idiot, take it as a reminder that you are amazing and cleverer than they are in your second language.”

Adora’s eyes had sparkled and Catra’s crush grew. 

It was the same sparkle that she had in her eyes now, her hand on the pile of cards and smiling widely at Catra. She hadn’t noticed it before but it was the same sparkle that she had when she looked at Adam and Swiftwind; she couldn’t quite work out what it meant. Time seemed to stop and she could see Adora sparing a small glance at her lips, her pupils dilating slightly. Her hand curled slightly on the table, cards furling within her grip and her top teeth reached out to chew lightly on her bottom lip.

Catra couldn’t help herself, she lurched forwards and caught Adora’s lips in her own, kissing her fully. She felt Adora’s lips part and saw her eyes open further before they slipped shut and she began to kiss her back. Adora’s lips were warm and soft, and she was smiling into their kiss. Catra felt herself start to smile as well and, when it was over, they were both smiling softly at each other. Parting, they stared at each other, cheeks slightly flushed and, for that one perfect moment, no-one else was in their world.

“Wahoo!”

“Get it Adora!”

“Finally!”

Their bubble broke and the rest of the world fluxed in upon them. The turned to the others and noticed that Glimmer was sitting across the table, phone transfixed on them and a wicked smile on her face as she continued filming unapologetically. Bow and Adam had abandoned their push up competition and were standing by Glimmer’s shoulders, smiling as well: Adam was giving Adora thumbs up and Bow was smiling so hard, his cheeks were trembling.

To add insult to the situation, Adam reached into his pocket and passed a bill to Glimmer, shrugging at his sister and Catra. “I thought you’d live up to our surname, Adora,” he said, completely unrepentant that he’d been betting on her love life.

And, in that perfect, halcyon afternoon, Catra knew that it was love that made Adora’s eyes sparkle so much.

\--

**TheWintersBane** **✓**

@ice_ice_baby

Imma punch you in the face and get points for it.

 **350** Following **2.7M** Followers

**Help I’m Entrapped Here** **✓**

@0100101000101010

@cat_ASS_trophy says I need one of these. The social environment is fascinating.

 **3.5M** Following **1.5M** Followers

**ADVENTURE! ONWARDS** **✓**

@ShantySeaShanty

I’m Sea Hawk, I am, I am! I am just a sailing man! I love @Sea_Ra, with whom I stan! I am Sea Hawk, I am, I am

 **190K** Following **1.1M** Followers

**I’m Your Huckleberry** **✓**

@miragebitches

DT, reporter and all around fabulous! Liza Minelli stole my fame. Proudly NB and supporting the arts and the gays!

 **2.4M** Following **4.5M** Followers

\---

After watching Sea Hawk make himself a eunuch and posting it online (sorry Sea Hawk, but her wife needed an update and she needed entertainment. As did the masses), Catra left the apartment to visit Swiftwind. She wandered the paths of the village towards the stables, already beginning to hear the horses waking and stable hands moving inside the large building. Passing through the large wooden doors, her eyes adapted to the relative dimness and she saw the hazy beams of light streaming through the windows, catching lazily drifting the dust motes and transforming the stable into something akin to a cathedral. 

Turning to one of the hands in the corner, who was arranging riding tack, she asked where Swiftwind was and walked to his stall. Unlike Adora, Swiftwind had flown to Brightmoon days ago, needing more time to acclimate to the new time zone and weather. He was being tended to by Light Hope, Adora’s stabling hand and she had been looking after him until Adora’s arrival. 

She was standing in the stall, running a scraper on his left front hoof whilst Swiftwind munched happily on his oats. He was a pure white Lipizzan stallion with no hint of colour anywhere and an enviably smooth white mane, his black eyes liquid and framed with impossibly long lashes. He was fifteen hands high and Catra had been incredibly intimidated when she’d first met him.

She’d never come face to face with a horse before, having only seen them on TV and in films and, on one occasion, she’d seen some on a school trip to a farm but steered well clear of the gigantic creatures. When she and Adora were becoming closer as friends, she had invited Catra to come to Swiftwind’s stables whilst she practiced so that they could go to the park afterwards. Catra had arrived early and walked into the stables to see Adora on the back of the brilliant white horse within the stable arena. She had been balanced perfectly and effortlessly on the horse’s back as it raised up on its hind legs and stayed there, which she later learned was a levade, a dressage pose from “Airs above the ground”. 

In that moment, Adora appeared otherworldly, still and tranquil, serene and one with her horse. She’d never seemed so graceful and, Catra was initially concerned it was another person. Her Adora was an adorable klutz that managed to trip over nothing, fall up stairs and be bitten by a bird in a wide-open park for no reason. 

She was a different person on her horse and she began to see the appeal of equestrianism. Especially because Adora was wearing her breeches and high, high, _high_ , shiny black boots.

Catra was fairly certain she loved those boots. 

After discussing with Adam, Catra found out that Adora was actually an internationally ranked rider and had won medals with Swiftwind all across the globe. Of course, Adora wouldn’t tell her this herself, according to her, she was “decent”. 

Despite having been married to Adora, she had never ridden a horse in her life and had no intention to right now. She knew Swiftwind, his temperament and demeanour were placid enough that he would be very unlikely to throw her but still…

He was very big compared to her. Adora seemed tiny on him and she was practically Amazonian next to Catra; he could probably crush her under one of his hooves. He wouldn’t, but part of Catra thought that was because he wouldn’t want to have to clean her insides off his coat. Prissy animal. 

Light Hope greeted Catra with a solemn nod; although she’d been working with Adora for years and managing the stables that Swiftwind usually stayed in for as long as he’d been in America, Catra had never received anything more than a solemn nod from her. She had exchanged a few words over years and had never seen her smile. She wasn’t sure if she was programmed to smile. 

She gave Swiftwind’s nose a few pats and thanked Light Hope when she handed her a brush and she began to help groom her wife’s horse. In the absence of Adora, it was nice to have something that connected the together despite the geographical distance. She could almost feel Adora’s hand guiding hers as she brushed Swiftwind’s coat, her scent over her shoulder and she could feel Adora’s long blonde hair tickling her nape. 

She spent hours with Swiftwind, grooming him and pampering him, as he had come to expect, and she found that she felt grounded for the first time in weeks. She’d felt like she’d shared a little time with Adora and it did wonders for her mood.

Snapping a quick selfie, she went back to the apartment, counting down the time until her wife arrived. 

\--

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

Chillin’ with Swifty since my wife is neglecting me. @adorkable, you’ve been replaced

[image]

 **90k** Retweets **120k** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @cat_ASS_trophy_

I’m landing soon! I would be jealous but I love that you’re supporting each other!

 **60k** Retweets **80k** Likes

\--

They were curled up on the sofa in Bow’s library, watching a movie on the big screen. The library that Bow’s dads managed had a large recreation room that had a smattering of plush cushions that swallowed adults whole, several red squishy couches, perfect for cuddling on and a large projector and big screen. It was originally for showing historical videos when school children came to visit but in recent times, it had been re-appropriated into a mini-cinema. People could book the room and play films if they brought them, tidied up after themselves and donated to the library. George and Lance, Bow’s parents, had found a significant up tick in the number of people visiting their library but, on the downside, a lot of the foot traffic was Bow and his friends, who seemed to spend at least one night a week watching something. Tonight, it was Frosta’s turn to choose a film, so they were in the midst of watching the latest mass murderer to finish slaughtering the teen of the week. 

Currently, Mermista and Sea Hawk were curled up together on one sofa, Sea Hawk’s arm reaching behind Mermista to drape gently over her shoulder. For her part, Mermista seemed contented, her hair braided over her opposite shoulder and her black painted fingers idly tracing patterns on Sea Hawk’s trousers. 

Frosta and Entrapta were sat on another couch, practically sitting on each other’s laps, despite the room. Frosta was enthralled by the movie, one of the few that could stomach sitting next to Entrapta during the film because she would spend the entire run time dictating into her phone and distracting everyone else. They both seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere and the film, with Frosta piping up occasionally into Entrapta’s phone with “real time viewer comments”.

Perfuma was sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs, her fingers picking through Scorpia’s hair from where she was sitting by her feet. Scorpia was curled up, completely enraptured with Perfuma’s hands and didn’t seem to notice the horror occurring on the screen and was close to purring like a cat with contentment. Perfuma’s long fingers were steady and calm and her dark eyes were soft with fondness, looking at her girlfriend.

Bow, Glimmer and Adam were sprawled over the floor, reclining over the beanbags with scattered blankets and cushions padding them. Glimmer was watching the screen with rapt attention, funnelling popcorn into her mouth like a conveyor belt. Bow and Adam were intermittently curled behind their hands and cushions with terror and laughing as they threw snack mix at each other. 

Bow threw a piece of popcorn at Adam, who snatched in out of the air with his mouth, and caused a small wave of giggles around the room, distracting Glimmer’s laser focus from the slasher. Her head popped up like a jack-in-a-box, eyes wide at the sudden change in ambience in the room and she looked like a startled rabbit; ironically more shocked by laughter than horror. This made the round of laughter in the room louder and longer.

Catra and Adora were cozied into another sofa, huddled beneath another blanket. Adora was resting with her back to one of the sofa arms, head resting on a cushion on the arm and Catra curled on her chest. She was tracing abstract patterns on Catra’s shoulder gently whilst watching the film and Catra was content to lay there, occasionally being jolted when Adora jumped slightly with the film. 

Her relationship with Adora had been scarily easy. They fell into each other’s lives, literally in Adora’s case, and, like planets, they’d become stuck orbiting together. By now, they were living together, with Adam in the spare room and firmly told to knock before entering, and they seemed to have skipped over to a marital state: they were perfectly comfortable with one another.

She thought Adora was beautiful on the back of Swiftwind, in her gym clothes, snoring in bed. Adora thought Catra was graceful on the beam, running in the park, dancing in the arcade. They accepted each other fully, assets and faults; Adora could be irritatingly ignorant of her own needs, Catra could be mulishly selfish at times, but both seemed to balance the other in a way that they had never known they were missing.

It was in the middle of the horror flick, Catra realised she loved moments like this, existing with her friends and wrapped up in Adora. Her life had changed so much and she couldn’t be happier. Since starting at Mystacor Gyms, she had a role model in Castaspella, friends and someone she loved more than life itself. She had people to support and encourage her when things were low; she had people to share in her joys. She was doing what she loved, with people that she loved. 

She could happily live her life like this, surrounded by love and warmth. She wanted this forever.

“Me too,” she heard Adora say below her and glanced up to see bright blue eyes staring down at her and a white, contented smile. It was then that she realised she’d said that out loud and Adora was answering her. Her heart leapt, uncertain with being so exposed and open but Adora wanted the same thing. Could she go for it?

“Hey Adora,” she purred, gazing into the blonde’s eyes as litres of corn syrup splattered on screen and a harrowing scream echoed around the room. When the scream tapered off into silence, she continued. 

“Marry me?”

\--

**ADVENTURE! ONWARDS** **✓** @ShantySeaShanty

I lived! The reports of my death have been exaggerated

 **99k** Retweets **103k** Likes

**Trident of Power** **✓** @Sea_Ra

_Replying to @ShantSeaShanty_

Give me a minute. @0100101000101010, can I borrow Emily please?

 **140k** Retweets **193k** Likes

\--

Catra was standing with Bow and Glimmer in the airport arrivals terminal. The others had stayed at the Olympic Village, Frosta and Scorpia working out in the gym whilst Perfuma and Entrapta went for a run to get in some cardio. Mermista and Sea Hawk were in the pool and the coaches were scattered around the athletes, getting in some last-minute training. 

It was a few days ago that she was coming out of the terminal herself to be greeted by Bow and Glimmer and she was standing here, about to see her wife in person for the first time in weeks.

She was a little excited. 

She was donned in her Team USA jacket, like the other two and she had a sign with her; she wasn’t holding it, God forbid, but Bow was holding it for her, using his greater height and wingspan to have it towering above their heads. The sign was white, with black writing and simply said “Lost wife: please return to Catra” and Glimmer thought it was hilarious, snapping pictures for the inevitable twitter fallout later. 

Adora’s flight had landed ten minutes ago and she was waiting for her to leave the tunnel. It was almost the longest ten minutes of her life, second only to those terrifying ten minutes she stood at the altar waiting for Adora to join her. She stared at the display board again, but the information hadn’t changed. It still said that her flight was disembarking at this terminal, but her wife still hadn’t arrived. How rude.

Glancing across at Bow and Glimmer, she was greeted by a tiny ball of anger scrolling through her phone, looking up every so often belaying her eagerness to see Adora. Bow, however, was looking down on her with fondness, eyes warm and soft.

“She’ll be here soon,” he reassured Catra, arms still holding up their ridiculous sign. Catra hummed in response, sparing a small smile for him. She knew that, logically, but she hadn’t seen her wife in person for so long, she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. 

Then, she heard Adora’s voice coming from the corridor. She was speaking in German to Adam, animatedly talking with her arms waving wildly, nearly taking his eye out at one point. They were dressed in their Team Germany jackets, white with stripes on the shoulders representing the flag and were carrying their hand luggage one handedly. Adora had her long golden hair pinned in a high ponytail, her blue eyes shining as she and her brother bantered easily. 

It was like seeing water after a trek in the desert, Catra had known she’d missed Adora but the extent surprised her all the same. She was finally home. 

She saw the moment that Adam saw her sign; he’d been turned towards Adora as she spoke, half an eye on their forward progress and pulling his sister with him to avoid obstacles and people. Adora, for her part, was so wrapped up in talking to Adam that she’d almost hit several people, either by walking into them or with her flailing arms. He had looked up from her briefly, and Catra saw his eyes widen and twinkle when he saw the sign. His pale lips widened into a knowing smirk and he glanced away quickly, probably not wanting to spoil the surprise. 

Adora, for her part, was happily led by Adam around her victims and staring at him fully, knowing and trusting that he would keep her from injuring herself. She failed to notice the undertone of mischief in his expression as they walked towards the exit. She turned, glancing up to search for their bus and it was then that she saw Catra’s name. Reading the rest of the sign, she flushed bright crimson and tripped over her own feet. Thankfully, Adam was there and proved his worth as a brother when he caught Adora’s arm, stopping her from falling on her face laughing all the while. 

“You never change,” he chuckled with a firm hold on Adora’s bicep. She muttered with thanks and walked towards the sign. Catra could see her blush extending down the neckline of her jacket but she was smiling widely, excited to reunite with her wife and friends. Bow was practically vibrating next to Catra and Glimmer had finally looked up from her phone to see the twins approaching.

“Finally,” she muttered, grinning. Catra couldn’t wait any longer and ran towards Adora, who had enough time to get her arm back from Adam and thrust her bag to him before she caught her in a flying leap. Easily supporting Catra in her arms, her feet clear from the floor, they spun in a circle, laughing together and caught each other’s lips in a passionate kiss. 

For the first time in months, Catra’s world was in her arms again. Breaking the kiss, she and Adora leaned their foreheads together and shared a secret smile.

“Hi, you,” said Adora, a wide smile in place.

“Hey Adora,” she purred back and smiled so widely her canines were on display. Adora’s arms were still supporting her off the ground, Catra’s impeccable balance allowing her to stay balanced on her completely. Catra’s hands were free to start picking at Adora’s blonde fringe, loose after her long flight and not pinned back in its usual poof. Her eyes were a little dimmer than usual, framed by her long eyelashes and Catra couldn’t believe how much she’d missed this. 

“I swear, Adorkable,” she said, staring directly into Adora’s eyes, “if you don’t have American citizenship by the next games, we are divorcing.”

Adora laughed, snorting a little. “What, did you miss me?”

“No, I don’t even like you,” Catra responded, a call back to when they were hopelessly flirting with each other. 

(“Come on Adora, I don’t even like you.”

“True. You love me instead.”)

“I know,” Adora whispered, her eyes shining with love at the unsaid meaning to the words.

They heard a pointed cough from behind them and saw that the rest of the Best Friend Squad had met up with them, Adam and Bow exchanging a manly hug and Glimmer with her arms crossed and an impatiently tapping foot. “You two gonna part any time soon?”

“Nope,” Catra smirked, making herself one with Adora. For her part, Adora shifted her arms to support under Catra’s rear and make her more comfortable in her arms. She smiled apologetically but also shook her head at Glimmer. 

“Well,” the tiny Filipina said, a devilish twinkle in her eyes, “if you won’t separate, I guess we’ll have to work around you.”

And, with that, the remaining members of their group instigated a group hug that crushed Catra in the middle. Glimmer appeared at Adora’s shoulder, embracing her, whilst Bow and Adam circled the entire group with their arm span, squeezing hard. Bow began to tear up.

“I missed you guys,” he warbled, nuzzling Adora’s cheek, who let out a delighted laugh. 

“I missed you all as well,” she sniffled back, starting to cry as well. Oh no, if she started to properly cry, Catra probably would as well. Adam was looking a little misty as well (damned twin psychic bond!) but Glimmer was with Catra in grumpy stoic solidarity and firmly refusing to cry. Bow had taken this opportunity to pull both twins towards him, nestling up to their cheeks so that Adam was awkwardly bent around Glimmer and Adora was curved uncomfortably around Catra, still supporting her weight. “Never leave me again!”

“Oh Bow,” Adam sniffled, looking like Scorpia: built like a brick house but ooey-gooey in side, “of course not! You’re family to us!”

“Promise?”

And looking directly at Catra, who gazed back with her heterochromic eyes wide, Adora whispered: “I promise.”

\--

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓** @bowtie

#BFS reunited!!! I’m so happy right now!!

[image]

 **200k** Retweets **260k** Likes

**They See Me Rollin’** @BUSgirl

Just saw the cutest #BFS reunion in the airport today #blessed #BowForPresident

 **40k** Retweets **80k** Likes

**Sparkle Sparkle Bitches** **✓** @glim_glam

_Replying to @bowtie_

You know what this calls for? Video embarrassment of the reunion of our two favourite lesbians #RaRa #BFS

[video]

 **344k** Retweets **390k** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @glim_glam_

☹

 **410k** Retweets **450k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

_Replying to @glim_glam_

Run

 **490k** Retweets **550k** Likes

\--

The day of their wedding rolled around far sooner than Catra had anticipated. After their “horridly unromantic proposal”, they weren’t allowed to plan their own wedding for fear that they would just turn up to the bar one day and say that they were married.

(“That sounds like a really good idea actually.”

“I know right, we could just go to the registry office and get it done now.”

“Catra, Adora, NO!”

“Catra, Adora, yes!!”)

Bow and Glimmer had commandeered their wedding planning and they were swept along with it. Catra thought, perhaps a little unkindly, that this was just them sublimating their unresolved sexual tension for one another but she daren’t voice this aloud.

Glimmer was terrifying.

So, their wedding had been planned within an inch of its life and Catra and Adora had okayed so many decisions but made very few of them. This was fine, they wouldn’t know where to begin with this sort of thing and, this way, their friends were involved as much as they wanted to be. 

They had the wedding in a country hotel, managed by one of Light Hope’s friends called Mara. She was the general manager and had manged to squeeze them in to an availability nine months after the “horridly unromantic proposal”. Given that venues often book up years in advance, this was a boon for them. Apparently, Glimmer had spoken to Light Hope, who had spoken to Mara, who had pulled some strings. Catra didn’t know how Glimmer had done it.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. 

The country manor was a large building surrounded by rolling green lawns and had strategic fountains and picturesque landscaping. There was a white painted gazebo in the garden, surrounded by winding paths, trellis with winding jasmine and climbing white roses. The actual manor was dark bricked, with wooden flooring and high arched windows. There was a reception room for the actual ceremony which could be transformed into the dining area for the wedding breakfast. The upstairs of the manor was available for rental to stay and the bridal parties were staying that night. 

Given that there were two brides, Catra graciously offered to get ready in Scorpia’s room whilst Adora took the bridal suite. She was standing in white silk trousers and white court pumps with a crimson shirt and black skinny tie. Her freshly cut hair was in an artfully dishevelled pixie and her eyeliner wings were sharp enough to cut glass. Adam was in the process of pinning a boutonniere to her lapel, white freesia and red rose bundled together. His hands were shaking and he had tears in his eyes as he did so.

“Hey,” she murmured and he looked to her, his blue eyes so similar and so different to his sister’s, “are you ok?”

He nodded mutely, finally fastening the flowers to her, before sighing, “it’s been me and Adora for so long, us against the world. No matter what was thrown at us, we’d get through it. After our parents-“ he cleared his throat, his eyes shining, “-after they, you know, died, Adora looked after us. She became everything to me, even though I’m older. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

He looked at Catra, eyes breaking slightly. “I feel like I’m losing her but if I am, I’m happy it was you.”

Catra began to tear up herself and took Adam in a hug. It probably looked ridiculous to anyone observing, her hugging him given their differences in height and build.

“I’m not taking her from your family,” she whispered in his ear, “I’m becoming part of your family, if you’ll let me.”

Adam burst into loud, messy tears, fisting her shirt and bawling into her shoulder like a child. There was a small, tentative knock on the door and Scorpia poked her head through.

“Erm, I hate to interrupt,” she said sheepishly, “but is everything ok?” Catra nodded, patting Adam on the back as he continued to sob.

“In that case, I think Adora wants to see you Adam,” she continued, smiling encouragingly. Adam sniffled one final time into Catra’s arms and stood up. Visibly pulling himself together, he took a deep breath, nodded gratefully to Catra and left the room. 

Still shaken, Catra turned helplessly to Scorpia and raised her hands in an expression of “what just happened?” Scorpia laughed and walked over, straightening Catra’s muddied shirt. “Adora thought Adam might cry on you, so asked me to tell him to go to her room.”

She loved her wife-to-be so much, she thought of everything. Usually, Adora’s brain had a habit of going into overdrive, overthinking and overanalysing every possibility which made for some fantastic anxiety issues but also meant that she thought of situations like this. 

She walked down the stairs to the reception area to see that it had been rearranged into ten rows of chairs with a central aisle. The row ends were decorated with beautiful flowers that Perfuma had organised, freesias and red roses continued with white ribbons. A videographer and photographer were setting up in one corner, they had been vetted by Entrapta, with her practically dismantling their equipment before Frosta could pull her away. 

At the front of the room, next to the indimidatingly large register they would have to sign, was a wizened old woman called Razz. When they had been searching for someone to officiate their wedding, they’d been met with a fair few refusals based on the fact that they were two women. They had begun to get disheartened until Mara offered the services of Razz, an officiant that they used at the manor for same sex marriages. 

On first appearance, Razz appeared to have died in 1966 and not been told, her hair was an electric mane that made Catra a little jealous, and her hands were gnarled, covered by numerous bangles and rings. She had large glasses that made her seem like some kind of insect and, if she hadn’t been recommended by Mara, Catra would have thought she was a hippie.

Today however, Razz seemed completely different. Her wild hair had been pulled into a stern bun that made her magnifying glasses appear more normal. She was dressed in a shirt and pants, with formal flat shoes and her jewelry had been toned down to a few bangles and one ring. Catra was touched at the effort the eclectic woman had put in for them. 

In the corner was a cellist, playing graceful mood music. She had been recommended by Frosta, being a friend from her instrumental lessons who was very good and looking for a job. Catra knew that the catering had been organised by Mermista, with Sea Hawk taking on the bar and Scorpia had tentatively asked if she could do the cake, which had been wholeheartedly approved by everyone. Bow had booked the DJ and music whilst Glimmer had overseen everything.

By the time the wedding planning was underway, it felt like a battle plan that Catra and Adora had no say in. They had been told to make sure they had a certain date free and to turn up on it, but little else was known to them. 

So, here she was standing at the altar, waiting for her future wife to arrive and steadily becoming increasingly terrified. What if Adora backed out? What if she realised what a mistake it would be to marry her? What if she finally came to her senses?

“I can hear you panicking,” a voice came from over her shoulder and she looked over to see Bow standing there, looking sharp in his black tuxedo with red tie. He gave her a knowing look and she gazed helplessly at him.

“She’s not going to come,” she whispered and her eyes filled with tears. “She’s going to realise this is a mistake and she’s not coming down.” All of this was whispered as friends started to file into the reception room and find seats for the ceremony. She glanced up at the sconces in the ceiling, refusing to let her tears fall or ruin her eyeliner. Bow placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“She will Catra. She’s upstairs with Adam currently crying onto her shoulder because she said her being married doesn’t mean she’ll leave him. She’s coming down and she’ll look at you and you’ll think you were an idiot for thinking this.”

She took a deep breath and composed herself. Looking back at Bow, she was about to thank him but he glanced at the clock an let out a horrified gasp. He let out a giddy squeal and flapped his hands. “It’s time, Catra! You’re about to get married!!”

The seats were filled, the photographer in place and the cellist began to play the ceremonial march. Entrapta and Sea Hawk joined her at the front, wearing the same as Bow and looking radiant. 

As the music drifted down the aisle, Razz said the fateful words: “Please all rise for the bride.”

Frosta walked in, dressed in a stunning tea length red halter dress, scattering petals as she walked. Following her, Perfuma and Scorpia looked resplendant in their matching dresses, carrying bouquets of flowers that Perfuma had made with arms linked. Athough they were gazing at the altar, they sneaked peeks at each other, blusing furiously. Mermista and Glimmer followed them and Catra almost had to pick Bow’s jaw up from the floor. Similarly, Mermista elbowed Glimmer slightly as she tripped when she saw Bow in his tuxedo. 

The music changed again and it was time. Adora entered and Catra was left breathless. She was arm in arm with Adam, who was still crying but smiling at the same time, holding a bouquet of flowers. Her white lace veil was covering her face, but was still clear enough for Catra to see her luminescent eyes and glowing smile. Her gown was a Grecian design, fitted around the torso to flair in an A line down to the ground. Simple and with gold accents around the straps and waist, it looked stunning on her, its shoulder straps accentuating her arms and her flat shoes minimising her height. 

Catra felt like someone had punched her; she couldn’t breathe. She was about to marry this radiant being and she couldn’t be happier. When they reached the front, Adam lifted Adora’s veil and pressed a kiss to her cheek. He then turned to Catra, pecked her cheek and gifted her Adora’s hand.

“Look after her and be good to each other,” he whispered and stepped back to where Bow and the others were standing. 

Catra gazed up into Adora’s eyes and they rested their foreheads together, lost in their own world as Razz called for everyone to be seated. Honestly, Catra couldn’t remember much of the ceremony barring their actual vows. Adora had screwed up and, instead of saying “I do”, she’d said “I promise”, which then became their thing in the future. Catra made a faux pas as well, interrupting Razz when she said “love, honour and obey” with “love, honour and stay”, which became another thing. 

When they exchanged rings, Catra looked to Adam who was carrying them as the Best Man and he smiled, passing the rings over. They were white gold with a small smattering of diamonds, given that neither of the brides were big on extravagance and, when Catra slid the ring onto Adora’s finger, something in her life clicked into place, like she’d been waiting for this moment her whole life and it had finally arrived.

“You may now kiss each other,” Razz said from her left and Catra couldn’t resist. She wrapped her arms around Adora and dropped her into a dip, firmly holding her shoulders and hips and kissed her fully on the mouth to loud, boisterous cheering and applause from the guests. When the kiss finished, Adora was flushed prettily but smiling at her widely and lovingly. 

This was what her life was meant to be.

\--

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

Made it to #Olympic Village. Sorry #TeamGermany, my accommodation seems to have been arranged already

 **310k** Retweets **344k** Likes

**Blond Butt Lift** **✓** @adam_ant

Likewise #TeamGermany, but I will not partaking in a reunion tonight #sendearplugs

 **360k** Retweets **390k** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

_Replying to @adam_ant_

Ich werde dich töten, Adam!

 **360k** Retweets **390k** Likes

\--

Catra practically skipped into the Olympic Village after picking up Adora and Adam from the airport. She felt invigorated, like she could achieve anything and she was ready to take on the world. Or at least, the games. 

Adora walked with her, hand in hand, whilst Adam proved his worth as a brother and carried her luggage and kept silent behind them. Glimmer and Bow had skipped off as soon as they entered the village, undoubtedly telling the others in the apartment that the twins were here. 

They took the longer route, neither one wanting such a simple moment to end; they’d spent over six weeks apart and wanted a bit more time together before their friends descended. Adam eventually branched off from them, following Catra’s pointed finger as they peeled off on a morning walk. They had no destination in mind but ended up in the horse stables. 

Adora looked across at her, eyes wide and practically begging. “Oh, alright,” Catra said, putting on airs of displeasure despite her also being secretly pleased about the visit. She watched as Adora whooped, jumped into the air and ran into the stable to find Swiftwind. Catra followed behind at a more leisurely pace and knew the moment they saw each other because her wife let out an ear piercing squeal as Swiftwind mimicked her with a shattering whinny. 

“Swifty! I missed you!” Adora called, hugging his neck and stroking his mane. Light Hope was standing off to the side, looking a little bemused, a little shocked and a little indulgent.

“She wasn’t even this happy to see me,” Catra mournfully and dramatically moaned from the fence of Swiftwind’s stall but regarding the two with fondness. 

After spending a few hours with Swiftwind, watching them catch up and Adora’s eyes start drooping from jetlag, Catra began to corral Adora towards the apartment. When they arrived, it was to a flurry of activity in the common area, with Adam being surrounded by the others; Frosta perched on his shoulder and Scorpia hugging him across the waist. He was laughing with everyone, looking so much like Adora in his contentment. He had truly become part of the group, not just a tagalong, and they were as much his friends as they were Adora’s. 

Catra could see the twin’s luggage on the floor of the living room; they’d caught Adam before he’d had chance to drop off the suitcases and he was still dressed in his Team Germany jacket, baby pink vest top (he wasn’t afraid to wear pink) and jeans. 

Perfuma looked up from the couch to see Adora and Catra in the doorway and squealed. “Adora! You’re here!” And, for the second time that day, Adora and Catra were crushed in a group hug. Scorpia was encircling them with her big, strong arms, as Perfuma bonelessly draped herself over their shoulders. Frosta squirmed into the middle and Mermista gave Adora a one armed hug from the back. Entrapta was standing off to the side and Adora waved at her, respecting that today may not be a touching day and she waved back with a smile.

“Incoming adventure!” Sea Hawk called from the back of the couch as he leapt into the hug, sending all participants crashing to the floor in a mass pile of limbs. 

Adora couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing.

\--

**Sparkle Sparkle Bitches** **✓** @glim_glam

Arrival of @adorkable and @adam_ant to the #Olympic village. They were missed, can you tell?

[image]

 **360k** Retweets **390k** Likes

\--

After achieving success at the preliminaries, it was time for the finals of the games that would decide if they could truly be Olympiads. 

For the whole competition, Frosta had been on top of the Flyweight class, bursting through the best of sixteen and quarterfinals without issue. She had won her semifinal match by one point. It had been a close call; she’d managed to land more blows and a higher overall score but her opponent had managed to land a kick to her head at the end of the third round that left her visibly dazed. 

Adora and the others from Mystacor Gyms let out an audible gasp when it happened, Glimmer partially rising from her seat with Bow’s hand on her forearm.

“I’m sure she’s ok, Glimmer,” he said reassuringly, patting her arm gently, “she had her mouth and head guards on.”

Glimmer turned, her eyes flashing with impotent fury and promised vengeance. She pursed her lips so hard, they turned white, but sat back down. Down in the ring, Frosta’s match had come to an end and she and her opponent were bowing to one another before they left the ring. Frosta returned to her coach, winded, who removed her guards and did a quick concussion check.

Frosta turned to where everyone was sitting and gave them a cheeky grin with a thumbs up and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

That had been her semifinal match and today, she was squaring off in the finals. Her opponent bowed and they were waiting the signal to begin their first round. At the sound of the bell, Frosta remained standing, loose and ready but her opponent flew forwards, letting off a flurry of punches to her chest. Frosta parried well and managed to get a spinning kick in, landing on her opponent’s trunk protector.

In retaliation, her opponent used the momentum of her kick to rebound and swiftly land three punches on her torso and the buzzer was called for the first round: 2-3.

Frosta looked like someone had peed in her breakfast, puffed cheeks and flinty eyes and, when the bell sounded for the second round, she flew into a barrage of attacks like a refined savage. She threw a vicious punch to the torso (took two to the chest), followed by a kick to the head and a second punch for good measure and her opponent didn’t even have the opportunity to retaliate. Second round over: 7-5.

In the final round, with her opponent appearing a little intimidated by the tiny ball of fists before her, Frosta went on the attack again. They traded blows and Frosta danced out of her opponent’s reach, stepping dangerously close to stepping out of bounds. She held her ground and managed to push her opponent back with a furious punch and, with a degree of flexibility that Catra was jealous of, she took the momentum of her punch, turned it in to a forward stance and released a spin kick to her opponent’s torso that landed with such force that they took a step outside the ring. The final round finished: 10-6.

When Frosta realised that the final buzzer had rung, she paused for a moment. Then, she glanced at the scoreboard, disbelief crossed her features and she looked at her coach in confirmation. They gave her a double thumbs up, and a large, carefree smile graced Frosta’s face, followed by an exhilarated laugh. 

She’d scored her gold. 

\--

**Sparkle Sparkle Bitches** **✓** @glim_glam

Congratulations to @ice_ice_baby on your #Olympics gold! You really earned it

 **244k** Retweets **290k** Likes

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓** @bowtie

Well done #TeamRebellion and especially @SpinToss for your volleyball #Olympic silver

 **75k** Retweets **132k** Likes

\--

The pool was a completely separate world: it was coloured in blue hues with an almost overpowering smell of chlorine. It was a covered area, blocking out the sun and any surrounding noise from Brightmoon. Noise was amplified to a painful degree as chattering echoed and the water splashed noisily.

Mermista was standing on her starting block, adjusting her goggles with her hair scraped under a cap. She’d done well in her preliminary races, ranking second in her freestyle races. Here in the final, though, she was gunning for first place. 

She’d taken silver in her 400M freestyle finals earlier and was looking to upgrade. She’d missed out by one second and it was galling her more than she cared to admit. 

She glanced around at the other competitors and saw the UK swimmer staring back at her. Deadpanning through her goggles, she let her gaze slide to the lifeguards, who looked like they died back in 1987 and were just waiting to be told that. 

She rolled her shoulders, loosening them and snapped a look up in the stands; the others were gathered there, waving down at her even though they didn’t know she was looking at them. Sea Hawk was there as well, having finished his yacht race, with Dragon’s Daughter (his Finn yacht) and him taking silver. 

Sighing, she bent down on the block, gripping by her toes and listened for the starting whistle. As soon as she heard it, she gave a powerful thrust and dived into the water. Fish kicking her initial fifteen metres, she let herself drift into the rhythm of crawling through the water.

Here was where she felt most at home. In India, most of her free time had been spent in some body of water and she was swimming before she was walking, or so her parents said. The water parted for her easily and she reached the end, turning her body round and starting on the return. 

She didn’t know where she was compared to everyone else, nor did she know her time; it was her and the water and the only thought in her head was counting turns. On her sixteenth turn, she was in the final stretch and she ground extra speed up from somewhere, trying to reach the end.

Her hand slammed in to the wall with alarming force and she took a breath in, pulling off her googles in the same moment. She looked up and the scoreboard and saw, next to her name: 8:04.79.

She’d won gold in the 800M freestyle.

\--

**TheWintersBane** **✓** @ice_ice_baby

#Olympic silver AND gold for our mermaid @Sea_Ra. Get in #TeamRebellion

 **75k** Retweets **95k** Likes

**Trident of Power** **✓** @Sea_Ra

I suppose @ShantySeaShanty deserves some praise for his #Olympic silver. Yay

 **99k** Retweets **103k** Likes

\--

Entrapta released a deep breath and focussed on her rifle. Emily was a .22 calibre long rifle weighing eight kilograms. Sure, she was a little heavier than woman traditionally shot with and she had a clunky internal mechanism and the trigger stuck a little on the left when pulled, but Emily was hers and she knew her inside out. Her matt barrel finish was also unusual but Entrapta found that shiny metals made her head hurt slightly so, matt it was.

Although social convention still confused her, no matter how much time and energy Micah devoted to her “social studies”, she appreciated her gym mates in the rising stands of the audience. They didn’t have to be here, shooting could be a boring sport to spectate, she knew this. When courses have a time length of over two hours, it can be hard to keep spectating, especially adding a sport when most of the exertion was internal and brain-based. 

She’d qualified for the finals based on her preliminary scores and had noticed that Emily was leading to the right a little, so was managing to compensate for that today. Why would that be? Something to experiment with later.

She’d just taken her final kneeling shot and moved herself prone, taking care to move Emily with her compensate for her new angle. From here, the target looked much higher than it did before, even though she logically knew it was a change of about a foot. 

Lining up her shot, she took slow, deep breaths in and, on the exhale, squeezed Emily’s trigger. Her shot rang out across the range, joining the intermittent shots from the other competitors and she waited for her lane to be cleared. 

In times like this, she reflected back on the skeet shoot that happened two days ago. That had been fun! Clays were shooting from different angles and directions and she had cackled with Emily whilst shooting them from the sky. She’d managed to miss one though, which left her at a silver medal on skeet and a sour taste in her mouth.

Finishing her prone shots, she rose with everyone else to the standing portion of the shoot. She could see her friends from the corner of her eye and saw that they had unfurled a banner for her, with her name on it. Deeply touched and, feeling something strange, Entrapta focussed on the target ahead of her.

Her final hour of shooting was well underway and she had fewer than ten shots remaining. She hadn’t looked across the lanes to see how anyone else was performing. Her instructor had once told her that was a swift way to defeat oneself in a competition and so she blinkered herself. Her friends had sat near the targets, off to the side so she could still see them. She knew how rowdy they could get but they were all sitting still with big smiles on.

Part of Entrapta knew this was because shooting was made for a quiet audience but part of her knew they were doing it for her, to make her more comfortable. 

Exhaling, she finished her standing shots and pulled Emily away from her shoulder. Relaxing her stance, and realising for the first time how tense she was (perhaps Perfuma could help her loosen her shoulders later). Goggles and ear protection were removed and she checked Emily over as the scores were counted. 

When she next looked up to the scoreboard, her eyes widened slightly. 691.9 was next to her name, a clear winner over the second place score.

She smiled widely, waving at her friends. 

\--

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

Nice shootin’ Rex @0100101000101010. #Olympic silver and gold

 **99k** Retweets **103k** Likes

**Scorpions are BUILT (for hugs)** **✓** @caringclaws

Congratulations @0100101000101010! Bringing one home for the Super Pal Trio #Olympic gold

 **79k** Retweets **92k** Likes

\--

Scorpia knew she wasn’t pretty, by the traditional definition. She wasn’t waifish or svelte; she liked soft things, sure but she also knew that she had to duck to get into rooms and her shoulders didn’t it into small chairs. Perfuma had been working hard to build up her confidence and her time at Mystacor Gyms had helped but part of her always knew this.

So, Scorpia loved when she got to compete because she was in a room full of women _like her_. She was normal here, not the strange one, and surrounded by people applauding her muscles, not gawking at them.

If she had her chance, she’d never leave.

In her preliminaries, both she and Adam had done well, competing in different weight brackets and gender categories of course. Adam and her had grown close over time, given that they had the same trainer at the gym and lived in the weight room. She knew how he took his coffee (four sugars and whiter than her hair) and he knew the passcode to her phone (1234, she knew she wasn’t imaginative). They’d spent many hours chatting at the weights whilst one of them spotted for the other and she felt that she knew Adam really well, so when he turned up to cheer for her along with everyone else, she was touched. 

He was accompanied by a banner that read “You can do this! (Perfuma says so!)” and she let out a little snort of laughter. Perfuma was currently in the middle of her last match, unable to come and watch her but the knowledge that she was there in spirit lifted her a little higher.

The calibre of competitors this year was so high and Scorpia was starting to get second thoughts. She wasn’t nearly as good as the other women here, they deserved to be here, she didn’t.

“Hey, Scorpia,” a truly booming voice rang out over the shouts of the audience and she turned her head to see Adam, his white smile blinding and his blue eyes sparkling. He took an exaggerated breath and she instinctively mimicked him, releasing her own tension. He then pointed to his sign and the rest of the row pointed as well, a matching smile on Adora’s face (and smirk on Catra’s).

She was being silly and she knew this and it was nice of her friends to try to relax her. She’d come second in the snatch, three kilos below the gold medallist and she was beginning to think she didn’t fit in here. 

No, these were negative thoughts. Perfuma had been teaching her meditation techniques and so, she employed a few breathing tricks now whilst waiting for her turn. ‘Square it out,’ she thought, pacing her breathing and her thoughts seemed to slow as a result.

Her name was called and she approached her barbell; the amount of weight seemed much more intimidating that usual. But, if she closed her eyes, she could dream herself back at her gym, with Adam in the room and her coach over her shoulder, Perfuma waiting with a vegan smoothie.

She dusted her hands with chalk and, on an exhale, she began to lift. Her arms strained with effort and she rolled the weights over her head and began to jerk it above her head. She managed to lock her elbows high, both equal but she hadn’t been given the release signal yet so breathed harshly against her pursed lips, her face turning red.

At the signal, her bar dropped to the floor and she breathed a long sigh, looking at the 187 kilos she’d just lifted with a sense of pride. 

Stepping off the block, she shook her arms out and rolled her neck. Now, she just had to wait for everyone else to finish but she was currently in the lead for the clean and jerk. By the time all the competitors had been, she remained in the lead and took gold for the clean and jerk. Her total score was highest overall as well and she had achieved her gold medals for the clean and snatch and overall weight.

\--

**Blond Butt Lift** **✓** @adam_ant

Congratulations to my power buddy on your #Olympic gold and silver medals. You earned them @caringclaws

 **200k** Retweets **260k** Likes

**Scorpions are BUILT (for hugs)** **✓** @caringclaws

Congratulations @HeartBlossom on your #Olympic bronze medal. You’re amazing!

 **210k** Retweets **230k** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

Herzliche Glückwünsche @adam_ant on your three #Olympic gold medals across the floor. Now will you move my sofa?

 **200k** Retweets **210k** Likes

\---

Bow was exhausted when his final match came round. He’d done well in the preliminary rounds but, archery was a very physical sport. The ranking round had him fire seventy-two arrows and he’d been ranked with everyone else by the score. He’d earned himself a respectable score, coming fourth and his first match was against the sixtieth rank. 

By the time he’d reached the semi-finals, his arms were shaking and he was ready to call off being an archer, go back to America and work in his Dads’ library for the rest of his life. He didn’t know his arms could hurt this much. 

He glanced up into the crowd where he’d spotted his friends earlier. They were all sitting there, cheering him on with banners and signs and part of him knew this was payback for all the banners he’d made but he couldn’t help but be touched by them.

“Shoot for Gold”

“Bow for President”

“You put an arrow through my heart”

“Show Robin Hood how it’s done”

It was times like these that he was truly thankful for his friends, Best Friend Squad firmly planted in the middle of the group, foam arrows in their hands and waving them like possessed people. He was truly blessed.

He looked across at his competition, to see if they were as tired as he was, but they seemed perfectly zen. Drats. 

(Bow didn’t even swear in his head because he was sure that his Dads would find out and ground him for it. Even though he was an adult. And didn’t live at home.

They’d find a way.)

He’d won the semi-finals by one set and was waiting for the targets to be changed for the finals. Sighing a deep breath, he tried to decide which arm would be better to continue with. Bow was a bit of an anomaly in that he was an ambidextrous shooter; with equally good eyes and equally dominant hands, he could shoot either left or right handed. 

Usually, this gave him a little edge on the competition; he could switch when one arm was becoming tired, but both his arms were shaking and exhausted and he could barely draw his string back, let alone fire right now. 

Rolling his shoulders out, he alternated closing one of his eyes and decided that his right eye was currently stronger so he’d shoot right handed for the final. Checking over his bow, he pulled experimentally on the string a few times, making sure the tension was right and ensured his glove was on correctly. 

When it came time for his first arrow, he had settled to his normal level of nerves as he approached the line. Seventy metres was a very long distance and seemed to be getting even longer as the day went on. He nocked his arrow and pulled the string taut, closing his left eye to aim and, using the same breathing techniques Entrapta did, he let his arrow fly on his exhale. It hit just to the right of the gold, embedded in the eight point ring.

Taking a breath, he watched his opponent let their first arrow fly and it landed in the nine point ring. Blast. Still, there were two more arrows in this set and two more sets to go. Not all was lost just yet. 

His second and third arrows both landed in the nine, leaving him with a total of twenty six for the first set. His opponent's total score was twenty eight and so, he conceded the first set.

“Come on Bow,” he heard the scream of Glimmer in his bones, “you can beat this clown!” He wasn’t sure, but he thought she might have actually screamed it, or he could have imagined it. For a person on the shorter side of life, Glimmer had always possessed impressive lung volumes. 

Centring himself, he positioned to fire for the second set, hitting within the ten point ring and he grinned. He just needed to believe in himself. And, possibly, have Glimmer shout at him. He completed the second set with twenty nine points and took round two.

They were entering the final set with a score of 1-1.

As though in a trance, Bow readied himself for the third set and the stadium seemed to hush. He could hear his heartbeat in his ear and feel his breath in his chest. The world seemed to slow and expand as the target seemed to get closer. 

He pulled.

He fired.

He landed within the ten.

His opponent prepared his first shot as well and it hit the target within the eight. Chance!

Bow’s second shot landed in the ten again and he began to feel the bubbles of anticipation in his chest. Glancing up at his friends, he could see the death grip Glimmer had on Adora’s arm, Catra’s attempts to free her being useless. 

Thwack! The second shot of his competitor landed, a nine. It all hinged on this one shot.

Deep breath in, deep breath out. In. Out. In. O- He let it fly and watched with trepidation as the shaft spiralled through the air and with a terminal thud, it landed.

Ten.

He’d won gold.

\---

**Sparkle Sparkle Bitches** **✓** @glim_glam

WAHOOO!!!! @bowtie just won #Olympic gold!!! #BFS first medal!!!!!!!

 **344k** Retweets **490k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

#Olympic gold for @bowtie. #BFS CRUSHING IT. @glim_glam: you’re next

 **300k** Retweets **460k** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

Well done @bowtie on your #Olympic gold medal and first #BFS medal!!!! You deserve it!

 **190k** Retweets **210k** Likes

**Help I’m Entrapped Here** **✓** @0100101000101010

Congratulations @bowtie on your #Olympic gold

l

 **140k** Retweets **193k** Likes

\--

Glimmer sighed a deep breath as she approached the trampoline for her voluntary routine. She’d scored high enough in the preliminary mandatory routine to qualify for the finals and she was about to begin her routine. She could barely hear anything, her heart sounded so loud in her ears and she was sure she was about to have a heart attack.

She was the final competitor to go and her predecessor had just scored 15.1 in their degree of difficulty, a score that was so high, Glimmer was considering giving up right now. But her routine was solid, she’d practiced to death and she would never have a chance like this ever again.

‘Not the time for nerves, Glimmer,’ she thought, glancing at Angella in the coach’s area. She received a thumbs up and reassuring smile. 

Showtime.

Smiling, she approached the trampoline, jumping slowly and approaching her red cross starting mark. She let herself continue to bounce slowly, gaining momentum and seeing a countdown in her mind to when she had to achieve maximum height by. 

On her second jump, she curled herself into a tuck at the zenith, quickly unfurling herself to land on the trampoline on her feet, and her routine was off.

Her third jump had her trying a Barani, flipping her body in a front somersault and a half twist before landing. She landed in the red cross on her nadir and was back up, fourth jump and throwing herself into a piked three quarter somersault, to land in a crash drive on the trampoline.

The breath was knocked out of her as she landed, back first, but it was in preparation for her next bounce. Fifth jump and she was doing a kaboom, a three quarter back somersault that left her contacting the mat with her feet. 

Sixth leap and she went for a full frontal somersault, straight into a full in quadriff on her seventh. Whilst in her four back somersaults, she could see Angella’s mouth drop. They hadn’t planned a full in quadriff, instead having a full in triff in the routine, but Glimmer felt she could do it. And, as she pulled off the somersault, she landed it.

Winner.

She geared up for her eighth leap, having landed dead centre in the cross; she’d need all the height she could get if she was going to nail this next one; a Gandalf. She threw herself in the air, twisting six and a half times with a front somersault and swore that her heart did the same thing as she landed it. Ninth leap was a septuple full, back somersault with seven twists. 

She was getting dizzy now but she only had one more jump left. Better make it count. On her tenth leap, she rose high in the air and executed a quadruple forward somersault, a quadriffus. And she landed in the cross, arms flung outstretched.

Thunderous applause followed, the loudest coming from her collection of friends in the audience. Trembling, she left the mat, gratefully accepted a towel and joined Angella.

“Glimmer,” she started, sounding breathless, admonishing and proud at the same time. “That was absolutely reckless and astonishing and I have never been more proud of you.” She was met with a hug from her as a combination of sweat and tears streamed down Glimmer’s cheeks. 

She turned for the judges scoring and saw the combined score of 15.6.

She choked back more tears as she realised she’d won.

\--

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓** @bowtie

YAS!!!!! My girl @glim_glam bringing home the #Olympic gold. #BFS for the win!!

 **200k** Retweets **260k** Likes

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

@glim_glam, Sparkles: well done and message received. #Olympic gold #BFS

 **290k** Retweets **350k** Likes

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

@glim_glam, #Olympic gold well earned. I don’t know how you do it, I’d throw up! #BFS

 **210k** Retweets **250k** Likes

**TheWintersBane** **✓** @ice_ice_baby

Congratulations to @glim_glam on your #Olympic gold. Thank you for all your support, eonni!

 **140k** Retweets **150k** Likes

\--

Catra would never admit it in a million years, but there was a tiny place inside of her that was terrified Adora wouldn’t attend her game. She knew it was foolish; Adora had been nothing but supportive in the time they’d known each other, but a small part, possibly the result of significant self-worth issues, was still worried.

So, when she saw Adora sitting in the crowd, a huge sign above her head, being held aloft by her delicious arms (yummy), her heart soared.

The fact that she was wearing a tank top made her day. She could stare at those deltoids forever. 

He gaze drifted above her wife to the sign, reading “My wife is amazing on the floor” and had to snort a laugh. Chances were that Mermista and Glimmer had written it, and Adora had been told it was completely innocent and believed them. Her wife, people: pretty but gullible. 

The smirks on the two offenders’ faces told her that she was right. The facepalm Adam was doing next to Adora told her that, contrary to her Twitter profile, she had definitely married the denser twin. 

Two days ago, she’d competed in the uneven bars and came second, with a rocky transition at one point, not saved by her somersault to the ground. She’d returned to top form for the vault, scoring highly but she still had a bitter taste in her mouth when she closed her bedroom door that night.

She’d competed in the beam routine yesterday, dismounting with two back handsprings leading into two somersaults off to the ground. It was the same move she was practicing when she had first met Adora and it brought back fond memories for her. The fact that she completed her routine on it, especially given its difficulty, made her smile.

The fact that she’d won gold with it, made her smirk.

She was standing in the corner of the floor and she caught Adora’s eye, who smiled brightly at her. This made her grin in return, one arm raised and extended, when her music started.

A strong latin beat filled the arena and she danced steps backwards, skipping and turning with the music. She rolled her spine and hips and she circled in one corner and prepared for her first move. A cartwheel, transitioning into three backflips and a salto put her in the diagonal opposite corner. A round of applause accompanied her.

She continued to dance in that corner, including two on beat claps with the music as the tempo increased. With her eyes on Adora, she jumped into the splits and turned, landed, and jumped into them again, applause matching her moves. 

She gave a cheeky grin and wink and went for her next tumble. Cartwheel into backflip, backflip, backflip and one and a half twist somersault to land and immediately enter jumping split. Thunderous applause rained down upon her and she couldn’t help but grin wider. 

The tempo of her music changed again and she added in some body rolls. She couldn’t see Adora but she imagined what her face must have looked like at that moment she undulated her spine.

(“You just blue screened, didn’t you?”

“Shove it, Adam.”)

She threw herself into a forward flip without hands on the floor and spun herself on her knee on the floor in a low spin. The music did a small “Oh!” and she joined in, hand to her mouth in fake shock and rose to her feet. 

Tempo changing again, she leapt across the floor in a split jump again, followed by a split jump with a 180 degree rotation and she danced in the corner again. Readying herself for this, she jumped forwards into successive backflips, finishing with a Biles: a double layout with a half twist and a blind landing. She was ecstatic and floating as she made her way back to the centre of the floor, rolling her hips and spine with her movements. 

She danced in the centre until the rhythm changed once more. Leading herself to her starting corner, she did another split jump and took a deep breath for her final tumble. She ran up, backflipped, performed a round off and launched into double and a half somersaults. She landed loud crash on her feet and used that momentum to collapse into the floor, rebounding highly and finishing her routine in a side plank. 

The crowd went wild but she only had eyes for Adora, on her feet and loudly clapping and cheering. She lifted her hand a wave and walked off the floor to be met with a towel and a grinning Castaspella.

It was then that she noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Castaspella reached around her and enveloped her in a comforting embrace. “You were amazing,” she whispered into Catra’s sweaty hair, her voice easily heard despite the din surrounding them. “Your mother would be proud of you, and I know I am.”

And as Catra dug her nails into her coach’s shoulders, her score was announced. 15.933.

With that score, she took the gold for floor, vault and artistic all round. She was a three time Olympian. 

\--

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

So proud of my wife @cat_ASS_trophy and her THREE #Olympic gold medals. You’re amazing 😊

 **410k** Retweets **450k** Likes

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓** @bowtie

#BFS holding up the #Olympic gold wave. Three from @cat_ASS_trophy and I’m so happy!

 **300k** Retweets **360k** Likes

**Sparkle Sparkle Bitches** **✓** @glim_glam

I suppose you did ok, @cat_ASS_trophy. #BFS scooping up more #Olympic gold today

 **344k** Retweets **390k** Likes

**Scorpions are BUILT (for hugs)** **✓** @caringclaws

#Olympic gold for Wildcat @cat_ASS_trophy! You are incredible!!!

 **210k** Retweets **290k** Likes

\--

It was the final day of Adora’s sport. On earlier days, they’d competed in dressage and jumping, both events posing their own challenges to Adora and Swiftwind given their respective sizes. Adora was a bit taller than a traditional rider and Swiftwind was a little smaller than the traditional horse.

In the dressage, they’d managed to contribute to the German team advancing to the finals and they’d won the team medal for dressage. Swiftwind and Adora had qualified for the freestyle dressage to music, the event to achieve an individual medal. They had scored highly for dressage and achieved their individual gold, Adora looking radiant with Swiftwind, her navy blazer perfectly pressed, her gloves brilliant white and her long blonde hair tied back in a show bow.

For jumping, they had shown a new side of them, a side that Catra knew was more accurate to their combined temperament. They had blown through the course, with Swiftwind clearing unbearably high fences and Adora moving in perfect harmony with him to compensate for her weight. There was one moment that they seemed to fly, soaring over a joker over five feet in height, to land with thunderous applause from the audience. They demonstrated their courage and bravery in their jumps, but maintained their co-ordination from their dressage. Easily scoring higher than the other competitors, Catra rewarded her second individual gold medal that night in their apartment.

When eventing came round, she was sitting on individual and team gold medals; Germany had always scored highly in equestrianism, but she wanted the eventing gold. Eventing was a demonstration of all the rider skills: dressage, jumping and cross-country and is the equestrian triathlon. 

She’d always been an over achiever. 

She was back in her navy blazer, white breeches and gloves, with her hat and show bow in place and she was guiding Swiftwind through the travers. Swiftwind had been Adora’s horse for ten years, they had almost a spiritual connection and moved in complete synchronicity. They had been doing dressage together for years, instinctively knowing what moves to do and when. Their shoulder-ins were collected, with Swiftwind curling around Adora’s leg tightly. Swiftwind’s counter-canter looked like he was flying between strides and his legs were elegant and poised. When he performed a half-pass, Adora moved with him, appearing as an extension of him instead of another creature. In the hot, morning sun of Brightmoon, Adora and Swiftwind proved that they were graceful and trained well.

The next step was to prove that they were physically fit with the cross-country portion. This was the moment that Adora was looking forward to. Swiftwind was a beautiful horse, poised and balanced but he was fast. Adora loved few things more than running with him through the countryside. They’d been given the go ahead from the vet to start the cross-country and then, they began. 

As soon as they cantered off, they came across a ditch, requiring Swiftwind to leap across it elegantly. There were obstacles everywhere, drops and banks, fences, streams and they seemed never ending. As soon as they cleared one, another would crop up almost immediately and it forced Adora to react quickly, guiding Swiftwind through the best course. On top of this, they were racing against the clock, as it was a timed trial. Adora could feel Swiftwind’s haunches beginning to heave with effort and she stroked his mane gently.

“It’s ok Swifty,” she murmured to him, “we’re doing good.” And with that, she leaned her weight forward to help with Swiftwind’s momentum, helping him to leap further by providing more inertia. One of the secrets of riding was knowing how to move to help the horse; when to lean into the movement and when to resist. She glanced at the stopwatch attached to her jersey and saw that their time was good.

They were about to reach the finish when Adora noted the final obstacle, a high fence with a wide pond straight after it and she knew, if they were going to clear this one, they’d need all the speed they could get. Tapping her heels into Swiftwind’s haunches, they increased their speed, seemingly flying towards the fence and it looked as though they would have a head on collision. Moments before impact, Swiftwind reared onto his hind legs and performed a powerful jump, lengthening his body to extend over the fence and pond. Adora leaned her weight low to his spine and over his shoulders, moving with his gait and there was a wonderous, horrible moment of weightlessness. And then they landed, clearing the final barrier and finishing the cross-country.

The final event of the equestrian triathlon was show jumping. Adora and Swiftwind loved jumping, enjoying the height and freedom that came with it. Adora changed her cross-country jersey to her jumping blazer and her helmet to her more decorative hat. Her hair remained in its show bow and she checked over Swiftwind’s saddle and tack. She patted his neck softly and gently, combing her fingers through his fringe with love.

“We’re almost there Swifty,” she cooed, “It’s our favourite. It’s jumping.” And she lifted herself into the stirrups and seated herself back into the saddle, ready to start. With the cross-country portion of the event, spectating was difficult and Adora had almost forgotten what it was like to have that audience, so when they cleared the first oxer easily to a loud round of applause, she jolted slightly, knocking her knees into Swiftwind’s sides minutely. Fortunately, Swiftwind was very familiar with his klutzy owner and didn’t react beyond a snort. He knew when he had to respond to her cajoling and when to ignore it. They readily cleared the triple bar and they went straight into a combination: three jumps in a row. Often, horses refused to jump one of the elements of a combination but Swiftwind loved this, prancing through the obstacles like it was a game. 

They cleared walls and open water and, the final obstacle was a brush jump that made Swiftwind extend his body completely, with Adora moulded to his spine perfectly. 

With the completion of the jumping event, the triathlon was over. Adora remained seated on Swiftwind, panting slightly and gently rubbing his mane. “Thank you,” she whispered into his white ear and he nickered in response. She looked up to see her wife and friends (and brother) sitting in the audience, clapping loudly and they threw their arms up and cheered when they saw her looking. She spared a small wave for them, still wearing her white riding gloves and she could see the flush spreading over Catra’s cheeks. 

(“Oh my God! She knows what those gloves do to me! Tease!”

“Honestly Catra! Save it for your bedroom, the less I know about your sex life the better! She’s my sister”)

The scores from the three events were calculated and the overall scores displayed on the scoreboard overhead. Adora was still staring at Catra, smirking slightly at her wife’s blushing cheeks and sultry heterochromic eyes when she heard a loud cheer. It was from her personal cheering squad and she frowned a little. Catra mouthed something at her but she couldn’t make it out until she just pointed.

Her name was on the scoreboard, next to gold. 

\--

**Meowmix** **✓** @cat_ASS_trophy

My wife has just won six #Olympic gold medals. That’s right, six. @adorkable droooooooooooool #BFS

 **490k** Retweets **550k** Likes

**I’m an Archer Boy** **✓** @bowtie

#Olympic gold wave has just crashed on shore. Six from @adorkable and that finishes #BFS olympics!

 **310k** Retweets **344k** Likes

**Sparkle Sparkle Bitches** **✓** @glim_glam

@adorkable, you were incredible! Six #Olympic golds for #BFS. Suck it, bitches!

 **360k** Retweets **390k** Likes

**Blond Butt Lift** **✓** @adam_ant

Herzliche Glückwünsche @adorkable on your #Olympic gold (overachiever). Now you need to ride something other than your horse 😉 @cat_ASS_trophy

 **600k** Retweets **660k** Likes

\--

Landing back in America had been an event in itself; Catra was not expecting there to be crowds awaiting their arrival but they had been met in the airport by hoards of cheering people. She’d felt overwhelmed but pleased that she’d actually seemed to have made an impact on some people. She was joined in the terminal by the others from Mystacor Gyms, waving placidly and smiling widely. 

She saw a brief flicker in the corner of her eyes and saw that Adora and Adam were hovering off to the side, looking out of place and uncomfortable in their Team Germany jackets. She shared a look with Glimmer and Bow and they seemed to have a completely silent conversation that Catra watched with awe. They then approached the twins and strong armed them into the centre of the group.

Adora looked to them with wide eyes. “No guys, this is for you and Team America,” she said, trying to disentangle herself from Catra’s arms. It was no good though, Catra was never letting her go.

“Nope,” she said, drawing out the “p”. “You two deserve to be here as well.”

Adora’s eyes widened and then softened as she smiled gratefully at Catra. She looked over to Adam, who was wrapped up by Glimmer and Bow and smiling broadly and laughing as she said to Catra “thanks”.

When they arrived home, with promises for interviews with the press and more legitimate promises for movie night with their friends, they collapsed onto Glimmer’s couch in exhaustion, all five of them curled up.

“Well, we did it,” Bow said, “we’re Olympians.” The words were hushed, like he couldn’t believe them but Glimmer held her hand out for a high five that was dutifully returned. 

“Hell yes we did!”

Catra rested her head on Adora’s shoulder and closed her eyes. She felt Adora carding her fingers through her hair and smiled into her clavicle. She could hear Glimmer shuffling around for the remote as Adam and Bow got into an argument over what film to watch (Glimmer would win) but her little corner with Adora was silent and perfect.

“So, what now?” she muttered and Adora smiled beautifully.

“Whatever we want.”

\--

**Blondies &Brownies ****✓** @adorkable

Need some help filling out the citizenship forms. Any helpers?

 **600k** Retweets **660k** Likes

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
> Kikuyu (Kenyan language)  
> Migwi: surname meaning arrows
> 
> Spanish (Filipino language alongside Tagalog) (Cuban)  
> De Luna: surname meaning of the moon  
> DeLeon: surname meaning “from Leon” or derived from Hebrew “lion”  
> Cuba por la Victoria: Victory for Cuba  
> Permanecer: Stay  
> Te extraño tanto: I miss you so much
> 
> German:  
> Ich verspreche es: I promise  
> Es tut mir Leid: I’m sorry  
> Du lässt meine Frau mich vermissen. Entschuldigen: You made my wife miss me. Apologise  
> Danke, Bruder: Thanks, brother  
> Es tut mir Leid. Ich werde den Skorpion herausbringen: I’m sorry. I’ll bring out (summon) the scorpion  
> Ich liebe dich: I love you  
> Adam, kann ich eine Flasche Wasser haben?: Adam, can I have a bottle of water please?  
> was ist gerade passiert?: what just happened?  
> Oh, mein Gott: Oh my God  
> Ich kann nicht glauben, dass ich das gerade getan habe: I can’t believe I just did that  
> Du bist dumm: You’re stupid  
> Schwester: sister  
> Kühn: surname derived from “brave”  
> Ich werde dich töten, Adam!: I’ll kill you, Adam  
> Herzliche Glückwünsche: Congratulations 
> 
> Korean  
> Eonni: older sister
> 
> Let me know what you think  
> BYB x


End file.
